Common Enemy
by testament5524
Summary: The murder of a Fire Nation veteran, the botched assassination of the Northern Water Tribe Chief, the kidnapping attempt on the Earth Kingdom Bei Fong Family. The Four Nations faced a common threat of interplanetary crime and must begrudgingly unite to deal with this common enemy. Futuristic police procedural AU. Most OCs from the Dragon of the Deep Forest included.
1. Chapter 1 - Veteran

**Chapter 1 – Veteran**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fingers I'm using.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Thursday, Month 7, Day 11)_

Lieutenant Azula Kai sped through the busy airline traffic in her sleek dark red speeder-car. Arm rested on the vehicle door, absentmindedly playing with her hair, she was currently enjoying the air flapping on her face and the privilege awarded by her blaring siren. Vehicles after vehicles hovered aside to let her pass. She could have flown in the empty space between airlines, known as forbidden zones by the laymen terms of the air traffic regulation, or the emergency air as many ambulances and law enforcers used those spaces for emergency use. But, Azula kind of enjoyed flexing some authorities.

Especially if she could do it, well, _legally_.

Ruby red lips curled up into a smirk as her foot floored the gas pedal while her hand pulled the emergency brake; slamming the wheel to the side, she drifted her speeder-car around the intersection, barely missing a school bus. Speeding away, accompanied by cheering school children, the lieutenant allowed herself a tiny chuckle, completely indifferent if she had just planted some ideas in the young and naïve minds of around twenty elementary grade students of Fire Nation Royal Academy.

Who knows, right? Some of them might grow up into the next generation of law enforcers. Or reckless drivers; whichever the case might be.

The beeping of her GPS system came as she was just about to snort; the image of a kid in Fire Nation Royal Academy red uniform speeding and screaming behind an oversized wheel of a speeder-car tickled her. According to the monitor on her dashboard, a GPS map among a cacophony of numbers, characters, and colors, Dragon Tail Borough was about five hundred meters straight ahead.

And eighty feet down.

Sighing, she rolled her tinted window up and turned off her engine. Freefalling a hundred feet down inside a 200 pounds metal and engines, dodging speeder-cars below with just her steering wheels induced a certain kind of euphoric thrill. After all, despite her stellar career in Fire Nation Police Department, she was still just a fourteen years old girl living out her rebellious phase.

The moment the bottom of her vehicle was ten inches away from the asphalt of the ground level, her emergency anti-gravity system kicked in. Coupled with spring balancing security system, she suffered no more than a pleasant rocking. No urban speeder-cars should have such powerful anti-gravity device but, being the granddaughter of the Fire Lord and the daughter of the Prime Minister of the Nation –and, more importantly, daddy's little girl- her car had been fitted by not only the anti-gravity system usually found in a war tank that weighted several tons, but also retractable mounted blaster turrets on both sides of her car with quite a respectable rotatable mountings, capable of 180 degrees rotation. It even had a rather powerful deflector shield generator, able to produce a protective layer of translucent energy field strong enough to withstand several shots of heavy duty blaster canons.

Then, there were also several features of comfort and style: expensive dark red leather, crimson lacquered wooden panel, the most advanced navigation system, heating and cooling feature, voice and finger prints recognition, mp3 player, etc. And at least two hidden weapon compartments reachable from the driver's seat.

Nothing but the best for the Fire Princess. Prime Minister Ozai had supervised the whole modification himself.

Turning off her engine completely, Azula checked her reflection on the mirror. Hair impeccable as always despite the wind; top-knot and her signature twin bangs veiling the sides of her face still in their appointed places. She reached down the compartment below her seat, listening to the beeping and clicking that ensued as the very surface she touched recognized her prints. She drew a drawer and took from it her weapons. Holstered safely was her main black with sapphire blue outline Spica SF-24, a small easily concealable handgun, often dubbed 'Spy's Firearm' –slang for the SF in Spica SF- due to the small size. She pulled the barrel back a bit; a luminescent red plasma crystal bullet peeked through the opening on the chamber.

Fitting her main firearm on her side, perfectly on her right waist, she checked her backup next. A palm sized Spica SF-C20, a six-shooter double action short-barreled revolver with a swing-out cylinder; a birthday gift from her mother and also fully-loaded. She fitted the sidearm on a small thigh holster half hidden under a heavy silk tasset that was part of her usual robe. She pulled and tucked one end of the tasset on her belt to allow easier movement of her legs and to further hide her backup.

She put on her body armor next: layer of light durable metal plate fixed inside thick synthetic fiber, colored crimson red with golden accent. The color theme of the elite Royal Procession that the Fire Nation Police Department's Major Crime Response Unit borrowed. With the headquarters in a tiny island east of the Capitol, the Major Crime Unit answered directly to the Minister of Public Security.

Tucking her badge –a flame shaped insignia of red with gold outline on a shield-shaped stiff thick leather- on her belt and putting on her communicator earpiece, she opened her door and steeped out onto the asphalt. Uniformed city guards were standing by outside a line of deep red police tape with bright yellow letters. They saluted the girl; Azula gave them a passing glance as she ducked under the tape and entered the crime scene.

A dark alley illuminated only by the twilight sunset; Azula found the soft orange hue falling on the ground strangely mesmerizing. If only the corpse was not there, she might want to immortalize the scene with a snapshot on her cellphone. A muscularly built man in what, in Azula's opinion, used to be impeccable robe of nobility. Zuko, crouching near the sprawling corpse, pulling a small pendant of wolf-hound and, now that Azula noticed it, the same symbol embossed on the handle of a gun near the man's dead hand, further bolstered her conjecture.

"House of Wu", she said as a greeting. Zuko, wearing more or less the same kind of outfit, though his hair he left untied, jerked his head towards her and scowled.

"You're late", he growled.

"Traffic's busy", Azula shrugged nonchalantly as she crouched down on the other side of the corpse. Putting on a pair of rubber gloves, she picked up the gun. "He didn't even get to fire a shot", she concluded, noticing the gun's safety that was still on. She jammed her gloved pinky finger inside the gun's barrel and drew no soot, proving her initial conclusion.

Zuko did not say anything. Azula trailed her attention to the numerous bloody patches camouflaging almost perfectly on the man's crimson robe. Almost. The three bloody and burnt gunshot holes on his chest also caught her attention.

"He was probably killed elsewhere and dumped here", a male voice that was not Zuko's voiced Azula's suspicion for her. Azula turned to the direction of the voice, falling to one knee for balance, and pulling her gun free with one fluid movement. Zuko groaned.

"I've told you to leave. We don't need vigilantes here", the Prince glared at the dark hooded shadow emerging from the dark corner of the alleyway. Azula put her weapon away, looking completely unhappy of failing to faze the newcomer.

The sunlight fell upon his boots, of Fire Nation pointy toe design, dark hard leather with darker colored metal plates on the shins; his trousers legs, dark heavy looking fabric; and waist where a belt with a round buckler of grey two-pronged flame was. His robe (who wears robes in summer!) revealed nothing on his sides but Azula knew he kept his guns there; a handgun strapped on his front waist, easily fitted for a reverse draw like a sword, and at least two backups, a real retractable sword on his right waist, and Agni knows how many knives. He was always packing, be it firearms, blades, or firebending.

"'_Vigilante'_ is such a gray term. I prefer… '_mercenary'_", he walked closer and crouched down; the light feel upon his light armor under his slightly parted robe though his hooded head revealed nothing but his sly smirk under his head covering. "After all, I got paid for my job."

"Vampire", Azula muttered under her breath, making sure he heard it.

"Psh! Please… I don't do sparkles", he grinned, lifting his hand wearing a fingerless glove and wiggling his fingers on the sunlight. "Though, I must say, your neck looks particularly ravishing this evening", naturally, Azula pulled off his right gloves, licked her finger, pressed that finger on the man's exposed skin on the back of his finger, and sparked a tiny lightning. "Ow!"

"Did you disturb the body?" Azula asked with a low menacing tone, wiggling a finger at some slight anomaly of the blood smear on the ground.

"Eh… maybe", the hooded figure looked away uncomfortably. Azula raised her fist and he cringed. "Ng… well…"

"This is why I hate vigilantes", Azula barked, slapping his arms. "You may be—"

"For a good reason, I assure you", the figure said firmly, though his _'I know what you don't'_ smirk sort of irked Azula. "I was nearby when they dumped the body."

"They? Who?" Zuko asked urgently.

"Here", the figure reached to his pocket and handed Zuko a small piece of paper. "I've also taken some pictures of the van. I'll send it to you if you're nice to me", the last part he directed at Azula. Under Azula's withering stare, the hooded teenager grinned and, ignoring the girl's stare, he tapped the back of the metal plates at the back of each gloves; a mucous like substance appeared from the very surface of the gloves, creeping and enveloping his hands, and solidified into a layer of synthetic rubber.

Azula, a fourteen year old, sounded like a mere four year old when she spoke to Zuko with that whiny voice of her that always annoyed her brother. "Zuzu, I want one of those."

Zuko threw his sister a glare for so many a reason. "We don't have the budget."

Azula blew him a tiny raspberry. Zuko stood up with the piece of paper and tapped his earpiece. "Headquarters, Zuko. Get me command."

"Here, look", the not-a-vigilante pulled the dead body and rolled it to the side; Azula felt a tiny jolt on her stomach caused by a non-official law enforcer fumbling through the crime scene the way he did. He took from a pouch on his belt a small object that had the appearance of a glass marble and pressed it; a small beep and the object shone a tiny but bright blue UV light. He let go of the object and the ball of light floated in the air like a tiny star.

"Yes, command. Mai, you— oh… _hello_, Chit Sang."

"Look, on his back", the hooded figure pointed at the many luminescent bright blue lines riddling the relatively undamaged fabric of the dead man's clothes. "I'm pretty sure he was tortured. And here", he pointed at a blob of blue at the back of man's head. "Looks like he was whacked on the head. Kidnapped, maybe."

"What about the gunshot?" Azula asked; Azula gave credit where credit is due. Also, this saved her from thinking.

"I can't be sure if he was dead or still alive when they dumped him here", the figure said. "I was up there", he pointed at an eight-storeys building of Fire Nation mainland pagoda-like design. "I was checking my phone for messages and—"

Under Azula's narrowed eyes…

"Okay, I was playing Angry Bird!" he redressed huffily. "It's boring being out here on patrol, you know. Anyway, I just saw the van stopping, heard some gunshots, and the van sped off, the vic was there like this. Took some pictures of the van, wrote down the plate number, you know, the usual. By the way, I beat your score."

"Dang it!" Azula cursed under her breath; and here she thought she could rub her victory over the boy for at least until this weekend. Watching him squirm whenever he failed to break her top score carried its own amusement for her.

"—no, no, Chit Sang! Just press the—"

"I've notified the House of Wu when I noticed the symbol", the figure added. "They told me they'd notify the police."

"Zuzu called me here. I was having a nice long bath; naturally, I am unhappy", Azula grumbled. "They hired you?"

"Off the record, of course", the figure grinned again. Then, he looked up, as if scrutinizing. Azula noticed his bright amber eyes under the shadow of his hood; the contrast looked almost creepy. "Did they say anything about hiring a private party?"

"You mean, did a respectable noble house admit anything about illegally hiring vigilantes—"

"_Mercenaries_!"

"—to potentially obstruct police work, not to mention admit such lack of faith to the quality of our police department?" she let out an exasperated sigh.

"The pay's good", the figure shrugged as if it justified everything. "2000 gold pieces if we solved this ourselves. 1000 if we aided the cops and let you take all the credit."

"The lab should be able to determine the time of death", Azula concluded as she got up and remove her gloves. "Not much we can do here."

The figure tapped the back of his gloves again; the synthetic rubber layer hissed and dissolved into thin air. As he reached for the floating UV light, turned it off, and stashed it back to his utility belt, he too stood up. "What?" he asked at Azula's sudden glare. "What did I do this time?"

"—no, Chit Sang, it's— *sigh* Yes, _hi_, Ty Lee. I'm doing fine."

"What do you mean 'what did I do this time'?" Azula practically barked at him, causing him to wince. "You're getting more brazen lately. Showing up at a crime scene—"

"Actually, I was here first and—"

"—disturbing the evidence—"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"—making shady illegal deals with relatives of a victim—"

"He wasn't a relative, more like an employ—"

"I can arrest you for this", Azula threatened.

"—no, I don't want to know about that guy who stalking you! Just run the— *sigh* _yes_, that's horrible, Ty Lee. I'm sorry to hear that and he should return all of your shoes he's stolen."

"Oh?" the figure grinned a mischievous smirk that was so him. Azula quickly interrupted the coming remark.

"If you make a joke about handcuffs, I'm going to smack you so hard— _urgh_, that didn't come out—", she groaned.

"My, _Lieutenant_. I never would have thought—"

"Shut up!" Azula snapped and kicked him in the shin.

"Ah, of course", he commented still so nonchalantly. "No metal plate protector yet to be invented to protect oneself from Princess Azula's kick. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to jump up and down holding my hurting shin", when he did that, Azula pushed him to the ground. She added a kick as a bonus. "Police brutality!" he screamed.

"Oh, I'll show you police brutality!" she barked, reaching for her gun. The figure yelped and scampered away to the shadow like a cock-roach.

"Yes, Ty Lee. I'll… call later", Zuko turned off his earpiece and rejoined Azula, fuming. "Okay, _who_ put Chit Sang _and_ Ty Lee on command? There is a reason why we keep those two apart! There's a reason why I assign Chit Sang to the field team! That guy can't press a single keyboard button with his pinky!"

* * *

It was late after midnight when Azula drove off from the headquarter island into the tiny strait that separated the island it was on with the main island. While other cars' repulsorlift engines could only stay on unsteady surfaces like water for a second or two before they failed, her car, like many government issued vehicles, was fully amphibious.

She passed through the body of water at breakneck speed, mind shifting through the little information they had gathered regarding the case they were working on. A senior employee in the House of Wu's mansion guards had apparently been kidnapped, tortured, and killed before his body was dumped on a roadside. The cover up job was sloppy to say the least; the torture marks were a dead giveaway.

Either the perpetrators were foolish or they had gotten what they wanted and had no need to cover their mess to a great extent. Azula was inclined to believe the latter. The House of Wu was a powerful merchant family with many ties to the underworld; black market, drugs, illegal gambling, human trafficking, triads.

She slowed down a bit as her car hovered onto solid land. Speeding towards the deserted ground level road, she picked up a single flower of gentle purple color that she had found on her dashboard earlier; a nightshade. She steered through the street, the route was all too familiar for her.

Fifteen minutes of drive later, she stopped and parked her car in front of a bustling night market; a tall red gate ushering the way to a series of stone steps that led towards a brightly-lit area filled with lanterns and torches, carts and stalls, still crowded by people at this late hour of night, a stark contrast with the surrounding dark deserted cold-looking streets and buildings.

The lieutenant climbed the steps, earning less than a glance despite the gun on her waist and the badge reflecting the light of the torches and lanterns. The lack of modern technology made the gas tank under the stoves of food hawkers and the occasional cellphones looked slightly out of place. Shooting down the 'two for the price of one' offer from a nearby knock-off purse vendor with a dry stare, Azula walked deeper into the crowd.

While being around people hold a certain charm to her, she was a reclusive by nature. As she had once told Ty Lee, she preferred shooting fake people in the head in one of her video games rather than spending one minute going with the bubbly girl to the mall filled with real people.

At least fake people she could kill without going to jail and with none of the remorse.

She found herself standing in front of what appeared to be a family restaurant. A large stone building with brick colored walls, crimson tiled roofs of Fire Nation design, with red paper lanterns hanging all around, bearing a rectangular signboard of black lacquered rosewood: _Shinrin Diner_.

She sat down on one of the many outdoor tables; eyes of the many patrons, most of whom were large burly men and tough-looking women, darted towards her for a brief moment. A petite well-dressed girl did look out of place.

A young girl of about six or seven years old approached and offered her a menu; a woman behind her Azula surmised to be the girl's mother. The small girl continued with her greeting and reciting of the menu of the day with a childish stutter. As she was done, giggling proudly, she jumped onto the woman's arms. Smiling brightly, the mother nodded slightly at Azula, which Azula returned with a tiny and brief smile, and she walked back into the restaurant cradling the girl to allow the patron time with the menu.

She flipped open the slightly greasy menu. On the top of the page was the printing of the restaurant's signboard framed with drawings of bamboo grooves on the right and left. She was reading through the snack section when a plate of fried dumplings and two glasses of iced strawberry lemonade were put on her table. The boy sat down in front of him, smirking his usual smirk.

Azula had to admit, he looked rather different in a plain simple short-sleeved summer garb without his hood or any visible weapons on him. Pale-skinned like hers, amber eyes, jet black hair tied into a messy ponytail, clean-shaven. He looked younger than his real age of eighteen but, then again, his personality still bore many traits one would consider childish. But, of course, those said little of his prowess as a warrior. He was no commander of a group of mercenaries just because of he was a charming man.

"So", he started as he propped his elbows on the table and put his head on his netted fingers, staring at Azula like an adoring fan boy, which gave Azula the creeps and a lot of difficulty swallowing her dumpling. "What you've got for me?"

Azula stopped chewing, narrowing her eyes sharply. "Excuse me?" she said with a low dangerous tone, after she swallowed, of course; Azula never neglected table manner. "I believe _you're_ the one who should be providing information, considering that I have the right to arrest you for refusing to comply."

Abruptly, the chatters around them stopped. The silence gave way to shifting and grinding of chairs; Azula needed not turn around to notice she had numerous guns, blades, and other sorts of dangerous objects pointed at her from all direction.

The boy in front of her sighed and sat up. "Oh, come now, people! You guys are so mistrustful."

A communal murmur and shifting of chairs later, the crowd went back to their late night festivities as if nothing happened. "You're quite popular", the man said, putting his hands down, clasping each other in a businesslike manner. "Ladies first."

"Alright", Azula took a dumpling with her chopstick and rolled it around in a saucer of chili sauce. "Zhang Wu, a senior employee of the House of Wu, VIP protection specialist", she shoved the dumpling to the man's mouth. "You were right; the vic was tortured. The gunshots killed him but he was unconscious at the time of death."

"Seems sloppy", he voiced Azula's earlier concern as he drank half of his glass. "Any connection with Earth Kingdom?"

Azula furrowed her brows briefly. "The shots he suffered on the chest look Earth Kingdom's from the appearance of the wounds", Fire Nation red crystal bullets produced supercharged plasma blast that was more incendiary in nature; the red bolt Fire Nation bullet produces burnt a hole through the flesh of a person's body. The wound would usually look, well, _burnt_ and slightly cauterized from the inside out. Earth Kingdom green crystal packed some concussive punch to it and when it hit a person's flesh, the effect is similar to poking someone with a billiard stick at ballistic speed; the wound would be more jagged and cause more extensive bleeding. A trial on a metal surface would typically cause a burnt mark with slightly molten metal, for Fire Nation rounds, and less severe burn and a degree indentation by Earth Kingdom rounds.

"We're still waiting for the lab report to confirm. What do you know?" Azula asked back. "Because, for now, that's all I have. We'll try contacting a representative from the House of Wu tomorrow."

"Well", he picked up the chopsticks Azula dropped and picked up a dumpling; Azula reached to his free hand on the table and playfully scratching a circle on the back of his hand. "Some of my men in Earth Kingdom told us a rumor about an interplanetary law enforcer team being formed", he dipped the dumpling on the sauce slowly. "Zhang Wu was rumored to be one of the names considered for recruitment. One of the top candidates, too."

"Zhang Wu served in the war for all ten years", Azula stated a fact from the man's profile she had memorized. "Highly decorated, Crimson Flame Medal recipient, was offered a steady job as an instructor in the Army but he refused. Apparently being a nobleman's bodyguard pays more."

"Zhang Wu was related to the clan. Zhang… _Wu_…?" the man stated plainly as he chewed. "I know him. When I was a kid, he let me shoot from his gun once. My dad was _sooo_ angry", he grinned, then he got solemn. "I still can't believe it was him. I still can't believe _I_ didn't recognize him. We kept in touch, you know."

"His face was pulverized and all bruised and bloody; even his own mother wouldn't recognize him", Azula said. Her tone was surprisingly tender. "Besides, weren't you… what, four or five, at the time? Lu Ten told me the story."

"Four… and three quarter", he said, smiling sadly a little. "Need help?"

"I don't support vigilantism", Azula said bluntly. "The law exists to protect people."

"The law exists to protect rich and powerful people", he argued, mimicking Azula's tone but with a smirk that was a bit condescending. "Consider a big fat politician with backings and gold. This politician… oh, I don't know, kills someone; a classic, timeless, and rather popular sort of crime, in my opinion. You, being an officer of the law, catch him; all done within the proper procedure, of course, with the warrant, and the handcuffs, and the 'you have the right to remain silent' crap. You send him to the court where his money bribes his way to freedom, his connections protects him from the masses, and, even in the unlikely event the law actually works and he does go to prison, he will be provided the best prison cell with luxury that rivals a five stars hotel, good food that costs more than an average government official's annual salary, and conjugal visits every night from STD-free whores."

He shrugged and gulped from his glass. "Of course, vigilantes have codes, the most important of which being _'we are the hunter, not the persecutor'_. Catch and release; they catch and release the preps to the police. And then, the process begins; from the 'thou shalt remain silent' all the way to the luxurious prison cells with sushi for dinner and prostitutes after supper. But, at least, with the vigilantes, they got roughed up a bit in the catching process. I admit, we do do what— do… do.. did do— _anyway_, yes, we do what the vigilantes do, but at least we make a business out of it by charging money from the victim's relatives. If they are willing, of course."

"Vampires", Azula muttered with a smirk.

"I'm eating garlic", he lifted up a half-eaten fried dumpling. "But, still, we never do anything without consent, or rather, instructions from the victims' relatives or employers or other sort of significant others. We also hunt bounties, but that's not against the law as we do not take any black mark", bounties posted illegally by parties outside the law enforcers. "And we don't solve crimes unless instructed to do so, and the most we do is gathering evidence and information and turning them over to the police. You should be grateful to have us; we're like some helpful little minions that you don't even need to pay."

"You guys don't pay income tax. And I don't feel grateful", Azula thought aloud, slipping her fingers into his grasp. "Remember that murder case awhile back?" he groaned while Azula continued. "A Navy cadet killed during a hazing?"

"For the last time, I was visiting my uncle", he said tiredly. "How was I supposed to know that I would be so lucky as to stumble upon some video recording in the academy database?"

"Zuko found you in the surveillance room hacking the computers with your tablet", Azula stated blankly. "He almost hauled you butt to the headquarters if it wasn't for your uncle."

"But, I helped, right?" he grinned as he fed the last dumpling to Azula. "Besides, _you_ let me into the room, _you_ supplied me with the tablet, _you_ asked me to do it, _you_ provided distraction while I was doing it."

"Yes", Azula chewed slowly. "But, I don't appreciate having any of your shenanigans being traced back to _me_. I do, however, appreciate your tenacity, your iron-like will, your fiery resistance during the following interrogation at the hands of Zuko and your uncle in which you gave me up… I appreciate your admirable display of loyalty, all ten seconds of it."

He cooed. "Well, you know I'd do anything for you."

Azula merely snorted.

"_We interrupt our broadcast for flash news. At 1:36 an explosion occurred at Wang King Paint Factory. So far, the police are still investigating whether or not there is any casualty but some eye witnesses testified seeing a known vigilante the Blue Spirit escaping the premises minutes before the explosion."_

"_Yeah, dude",_ said one of the eye witnesses; a stereotypical looking slightly inebriated frat boy with a huge grin across the face and a bottle wrapped in a paper bag in one hand. _"It was like… whoa! The Blue Spirit, man!"_

"_This incident has once again proves our point that these vigilantes are a menace"_, the TV shows a man with thick Fire Nation sideburns and dark brown hair fashioned into a top-knot; a bar of red stripe bore the name of _'Commander Zhao'_ with the caption above a thin black stripe _'Fire Nation Navy Officer/Anti Vigilante Act supporter'_. _"They must be stopped!"_

"See", Azula said pointedly. "Vigilantes are bad news."

"We're not vigilantes", he exasperated, grasping the delicate fingers in his hand lightly. "Vigilantes are charity workers; we are _not_ charity workers and I would appreciate it if you would stop clumping us together with them. It's bad for business if people start to think we take cases pro bono."

Azula merely smirked as he continued ranting.

"And besides, those vigilantes are mostly well-off. Scientifically proven; if you take a stance that psychology is a science."

"Psychology is not a science", Azula shook her head.

"Science has proven that most vigilantes are bored billionaires with more gold and combat skills than they know what to do with; childhood traumas as the result of a crime are optional", he droned on, draining the rest of his glass. "And, as you are aware, I am not a billionaire—"

"You're a multi-billionaire."

"—I know what to do with my considerable amount of wealth and combat skills—"

"You're wasting them."

"—and my childhood was quite bearable considering."

"You're still weird", Azula pointed out bluntly.

"Thank you", he kissed her hand and smiled. "Time to go?"

Azula grunted painfully. "Mai's staying over. I reeeealy don't feel like basking on the excessive emo-ness when she and Zuko are together. We have a movie night the other day; they made Kung Fu Panda depressing. I had to spend the next day shoe shopping with Ty Lee to wash off the dark aura. It was horrifying."

"Which one?"

"Both. Do you know it takes Ty Lee approximately ten minutes to decide the color of the shoes she wants and an extra ten to decide the model?"

"Isn't that supposed to be the other way around? Model first, color second?" the boy frowned.

"How do you know?" Azula asked suspiciously.

He just shrugged and snickered. "Wanna stay over at my place?"

Which made Azula gasp as she withdrew her hand and cringed in an awkward discomfort. "Why…? What are planning to do to me…?"

"Oh, well, you know", he shrugged. "A little inappropriate groping here, some lecherously natured kissing there; your basic standard procedure molestation."

He suffered a pleasant kick on the shin as he got up and entered the restaurant. He reemerged wearing his robe with his hood down and a backpack over his shoulder. "Ready to go?"

Azula got up and stretched. She took his hand and glomped onto that arm, yawning.

"We're not taking your car, right?" he asked as Azula rested her head on his shoulder on their way to the parking lot.

"And risk my dad tracking me down through the GPS to your house. _Yeah_, why not?" her head shot up. "This has been a slow week. I can use the entertainment."

"Of me being roasted alive by your dad", he sighed. "You're so mean to me lately. You'll miss me when I die."

Azula just shrugged as she rested her head back to his shoulder. "I'll save some of the charred remains."

* * *

The black speeder-bike flew through the opened deep red brick gate of the beachside manor and halted smoothly to stop in front of the garage. Azula got down first, stretching her arms over her head, yawning; the boy pressed some beeping button on the touchscreen between the handlebars of his bike. The garage door whirred open and the speeder-bike hovered in automatically.

The walk from the outdoor garage through the vast well-maintained lawn to a double door of red-varnished mahogany with black artistically inlaid lines forming obscured patterns of leaves around it would take less than two minutes but Azula did not care. Sighing tiredly, she latched herself onto the man's arm. They walked through the pebbled lawn that bore granite steps shaped like Fire Nation insignia towards a handsome looking three-storey manor.

A quaint, comfortable looking stone manor of dark red paint with traditional outlook that showed signs of affluence but not to the point of tackiness; edgy rectangular shape, unlike the more modern circular architecture of mainland townhouses, tiled roofs of Fire Nation double-sloped style with a ridge decorated with two dragon decorations, black and white dragons, with the tails pointing upward in the middle of the ridge, coiling with each other and forming a rather obscure Fire Nation insignia. The dragons trailed to the edge of the roof ridge to the either sides of the manor, opened mouths pointing upward as if roaring to the sky, wings folded tightly on their backs. Such roof decorations, especially custom-designed in such away, were allowed only for the highest of nobilities.

They entered through the deceptively automated doors into the entryway; carpeted and, like the rest of the communal areas of the manor, bore furniture of traditional wooden materials. They ascended the stairs to the second floor and walked towards to master bedroom hand-in-hand.

It was like stepping into another world. Black painted room that looked strangely bright under the room's modern lighting of plasma balls fixed inside several traditional indoor wall lanterns. A one foot thick half wall was right in the middle of the room; a potted bush of snow peony was put in front of it. On the left side of the wall was a study and racks filled with books both old and new. Next to it was a training post standing tall surrounded by various martial art weapons on the wall and a 4x4 meters safety mattress fixed to the floor.

On the other side of the half wall was a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall above a wide but short TV cabinet; a comfortable wine-red leather couch set and a coffee table were strategically placed in front of it. Behind the couch on the wall was a large king-sized four-poster bed with crimson curtains and black bed covering and pillow cases. A messy pile of crimson blanket with a black Fire Nation insignia was on the foot of the bed, pouring halfway down to the floor to the side.

A small wooden table was at the foot of the bed, bearing a two-level sword mount and a single straight-bladed jian sword sat on the pedestal; a black sword with a golden dragon engraving attached on it. On the lower pedestal of the two levels mount was a green jade flute with a red tassel.

On the same side, at the corner of the room, was a bath cubicle; around the same size as the training area with clear glass panels, tiled floor of pearly black, and a large red marble bathtub. Next to it was a door leading to a rather lavish looking bathroom with a red marble sink and tiles, and a small shower.

When Azula first entered this room all those years ago, she had immediately surmised rather correctly that this room looked smaller than it should be. She was right. Hidden by a mechanism connected to a fake book on one of the rack, which opened a sliding fake wall, was a room half the size of the bedroom area filled with monitors and connected to the mainframe of the Black Rider Mercenaries he led. It also doubled as his armory containing his numerous custom-made weaponries and armors of old and modern technology for both melee and gunfight.

Tonight though, he settled for piling his robe, backpack, and gun belt on the floor at the foot of his nightstand. He collapsed face first onto the bed, groaning onto the mattress. Azula took off her coat with more grace, draping it tidily on the couch's armrest. She walked to the other side of the bed and took off her weapon belt and backup gun holster and stored them on a nightstand drawer; she kept her small backup gun on the nightstand though, within reach.

Taking off her boots, she sat down on the bed and lied down on her back more gracefully. She took comfort on the softness of the bed and the gentle smell of chrysanthemum from the bed sheets. Tiredly, she turned around to the boy by her side who was now lying on his back upside down from her position.

"Lemonade?" the Princess asked, turning to the host.

"Yes, please", he sighed, tugging his collar loose. "With extra shaved ice. It's so hot tonight."

Azula smiled a little. Leaning for a quick kiss on his forehead, she trotted down to the kitchen on the ground floor. Walking around a large rectangular marble countertop she made her way to a rather luxurious looking side-by-side refrigerator, one of the few things outside the bedrooms that clashed with the manor's traditional atmosphere. She took from it a pitcher of lemonade and a ruby cherry she propped into her mouth. From the cabinet, she produced two large glasses and loaded them with shaved ice from the ice maker. Filling both glasses with the beverage, the Princess made her way back to the room.

As she entered, she caught the sound of water running from the bath cubicle; the tap was filling the tub with hot water. She put one of the glasses down on the nightstand, drained half the content of the other on her way to the cabinet below the TV. Savoring the sweet-tangy taste, she riffled through an interactive holographic menu of the built-in music player device of the cabinet.

The corner of her mouth tickled as she read through the folders titled according to the music genre; she herself preferred country of origin sorting. Azula noticed the 'misc' folder and smiled at this quirk he had. She tapped the holographic folder titled '_Instrumental'_ and picked a song titled '_Dream Night'_ by Shu Ling, and set the volume low.

The soft melody of the gentle flute playing seemed to clash with the tangy lemonade aftertaste on the surface of her tongue but she was sure it would bring a good night sleep. It was 2:15 in the morning and she was already counting the hours she would get to spent sleeping, minus the time she planned to spend soaking in warm water. Summer or not, there were certain comforts Princess Azula enjoyed regardless of the near boiling temperature out there.

Azula moved to his wardrobe next, extracting from it a towel and a plain red t-shirt, she was in the middle of taking off her small red two-pronged hair ornament when he exited the bathroom with a damp towel on his neck, wearing a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy shorts. As Azula walked past him, with her towel and change of clothes draping on her shoulder, smirking as she undid her sash, he quipped. "Leave the glass clear, please."

After throwing a harmless plume of blue fire on his face, Azula stepped into the cubicle. She tapped the surface of the glass twice, turning the panels impenetrably foggy, obscuring the view from both sides, eliciting a '_boooo'_ from the boy. She hung her towel on a nearby hook, made a point of throwing her articles of clothing one by one over the panel, and stepped into the tub, feeling rejuvenated the moment the warmth touched her aching muscles.

She was not kidding when she remarked that her father would not approve of her being here at this hour, let alone planning to stay over the night. Being daddy's little girl had its perks but it did have some rather significant downside. She was fourteen and she had never had a boyfriend. Well, sure, she herself was a formidable and intimidating character that most boys would avoid, especially if Ty Lee was around, and only admire from afar and, if applicable, while wearing thick armor. But, in the odd chance some boys did manage to muster up enough courage to approach her, Prime Minister Ozai would make sure they regretted ever growing a pair.

But, still she liked it here. Being in her apartment she shared with Zuko was not much different from sleeping over at the headquarters. Zuko always brought his works home; their living room, Zuko's part, that is, was littered with paperwork, profiles, memory cards containing information regarding active cases. At night, she could hear the soft muffled sound of Zuko's tablet reciting profiles and information from the living room.

Here, she could lose herself in the comfort this humble manor provided, she could let her mind wander and forget about crimes and criminals she had to deal with came morning. She could relax here. Sighing, she shifted for a more comfortable position in the bathtub, letting her mind wander to the times she had had here. Happy memories…

She first came here when she was ten. Her cousin Lu Ten was on a leave from the war but had to postpone on his promise to help Azula with her firebending because of he had made prior commitment to catch up with a good friend of his who was also on leave. When Azula heard that the friend was the son of General Jiang, the famous boy who was inducted into the ranks of his father's battalion as a strategist at the age eleven, Azula begged Lu Ten to bring her along.

It was in this manor where she met her childhood hero for the first time and was utterly disappointed by the fourteen year old captain. She was expecting stories of war, of valor and courage in the line of fire, and him to be taller; well, he was not and the boys took her to the movie. There was one time when they sparred together in firebending and they taught her and Zuko about firearms, but they did not go any farther than that. They stayed for two more weeks before they departed once more for the war.

Two years after that, the war was declared over. Her Uncle Iroh stayed in the Earth Kingdom, the sixteen year old son of General Jiang went home and resigned from the Army despite his stellar and young career in the military. Lu Ten did not come home at all…

They found solace in each other, bounded by grief; friendship grew, closer than the others but mostly through the phone or emails, and some face-to-face time every now and then, usually when Zuko was too lazy to pick Azula up.

Until Azula turned thirteen, the eligible age for military service and, after a rather heated argument with her family, mainly her father, she joined the Fire Nation Police Department. She asked him to join the police with her but, Lin, the twenty sixth, was a self-proclaimed free spirit and chose to stay in the realm of business and entrepreneurship, raking millions after millions of gold.

She immersed herself in her work and the first month she was recruited into the task force along with Zuko, she ran into him, literally, during a drug bust. Azula was chasing a suspect where she rammed into a hooded figure as she was turning in a corner. Lin, the twenty sixth, was a vigilante. A vigilante! A police wannabe who made a mockery of the law in the name of supporting it. The drug trafficker was arrested but Lin got away.

The very same evening, Azula kicked down the door of this manor and demanded an explanation. Her heated temper was soon overwhelmed by her realization that she was stepping foot into the Dragon Pearl Manor for the very first time without her cousin Lu Ten and since Lu Ten's death. She had just turned thirteen at the time and she blamed raging puberty hormone that caused her to suddenly break down crying.

Movie nights in the living room with Lu Ten, Lin, and Zuko… the time she was initiated into the world of video gaming by the boys and kicked all their butts at the same night, right on the spot in the living room where she had cornered him, holding a gun to his throat… the firebending spars they had with her… the firebending spars she and Zuko watched between the two young soldiers… and the one private moment where the ten year old girl almost walked in on both older boys consoling each other on the news of their comrade's demise in the warfront.

Azula had always thought of her big cousin Lu Ten as indestructible because he was a prodigy and a very capable warrior and scholar. Lu Ten's many talents had been discovered at young age and he had been hailed by even the Sages as Sozin incarnate. Azula had always thought that Lu Ten was invincible, unbeatable, around and always would be… until the time he came home in an urn covered in Iroh's Imperial Banner.

Azula might be cold and calculating but, at that time, she had also been a thirteen year old girl who had been too shaken up to do anything, let alone drive home; Lin had offered his guest room.

Standing now in front of the sink in the bathroom, with damp hair she let down, in nothing but the oversized t-shirt with sleeves that covered up past her elbows, hem that traced down her thighs nearly halfway, and collar so wide she felt the urge to tugged it closer to her neck ever now and then, picking up Lin's toothbrush, Azula remembered when she decided to confront him yet again that night. The moment she had stepped into this room, all the grief she had been suppressing came back twice harder. She looked down the sink, remembering how she had vomited here that night.

She had never been good at dealing with grief.

Lin was holding her hair then and, when she collapsed on the floor, crying uncontrollably, carried her to the bed. She fell asleep without remembering much else. When she woke up the next morning, he was there sleeping on the floor. Azula simply bolted away without a single word and Lin had respected her enough not to call her and called Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee instead to check on her.

She had come back that night; he cooked her dinner and it was terrible. She returned the next night, bringing with her some ingredients. They soon found out that she was just as bad a cook. And just like that an unlikely friendship turned into something akin to a companionship. Dinner on take-outs or eating out, extended into late night snack at Shinrin, grew into sneaking away from work to have lunch somewhere away from the prying eyes of her coworkers. All that was often accompanied by professional exchanging of information or favors.

Azula had to admit, he did have a point with this vigilantism. They could move freely, they were not bound by the nifty binding rules of law; that being said, they had no access to the wealth of legal information and protection the law offers. But, still… Azula _had_ to choose the side of law.

She was a Fire Princess.

Azula wiped her mouth dry and walked back to the bedroom; Lin was there, pacing back and forth a bit with lemonade in one hand and a tablet on the other. He looked up. "Oh, hey, a-are you injured or something? I found some bandages on your clothes."

He pointed at strips of long cloths that were her bindings he had put along with the rest of her clothes neatly on the couch's backrest. Azula was not sure if she should laugh or feel mortified. "No", she said, stifling a smile and feeling slight burn on her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" Azula heard him ask as she made her way to her clothes and retrieved her boy short panties.

"I'm sure", she said as she put her underwear on; she might have flashed something there in the process but, as expected, as she turned around, he was occupying himself with his tablet with his back turned on her. Sucking her lips in to stifle her smile, she asked. "Are you worried about me?"

"Of course, I am", he said without turning back.

"Oh?" impishly, Azula tiptoed toward him. "I'm touched."

She tried to peek over his shoulder but he chuckled and turned around.

"Put it on holographic", Azula ordered.

"Nope", he muttered, smirking a little. "This is 16+ stuff."

She smacked him on the back.

"By the way", he sat down next to her, allowing her to rest her head tiredly on his shoulder. "You've never told me about the van."

"What van?" Azula smirked openly; he pinched her cheek slightly. "The search came up empty", Azula said, peeking on the tablet that bore photographs of a burning speeder-van. "It was a rental. We found the GPS tracker in an empty warehouse but no van."

"My team found a torched van near the East Line Borough that fits the descriptions", he muttered. "They've notified Zuko."

Azula simply grunted, her eyelids felt heavy. She reached to his nightstand drawer and took from them her supply of hair ribbons. She tied her hair into a tight ponytail, still keeping her usual twin bangs, and crawled deeper into the bed. Lin came next, sighing deeply as he embraced her from behind.

"Aren't you hot?" Azula asked; at his chuckle, she smirked and drawled. "Doooon't…"

"We're firebenders", Lin said, burying his face on the back of the girl's head. "We control fire and, conceding to the Law of Yin and Yang, the absence of it."

He breathed twice and Azula felt the skin of his legs on hers and arms around her turning colder; she pressed her back deeper into his chest. "Teach me."

"Someday", he yawned. "Night, Princess."

"Night, dummy", Azula closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A fourteen year old girl and an eighteen year old boy might seem like a disturbing coupling. However, Fire Nation culture breeds warriors. Fire Nation is a race of warrior where childhood is short. Fire Nation is a small islands planet under constant threat of piracy and interisland civil war in the past. Even now when peace and unity among the people was strong, they have not forgotten their legacy of warfaring race.

Modern educational system, for example, encourages growth and competition, competition in growth even. They have basic literacy covered in the elementary academic level, then there is the secondary level and the noncompulsory but college required one-year tertiary level. In the spirit of fair play, schools provides education in the same pace for every student but, under the guidelines provided by the Department of Education, holds exams every end of summer for whoever wishes to attend.

This means, students with the advantage of extra schooling outside the school would have the opportunity to finish their education early. It would also give a chance to those homeschooled students or poor students who could not afford formal schooling to attend a legal examination and be recognized for their academic prowess since public schools were instructed to accept anyone free of charge; private schools charge people since they provide a more comfortable exam classes with air-conditioned rooms, comfy chairs, and lunch.

College level education is more brutal. Students are given a list of subjects to complete and electives to choose from, each having specific sets of objectives, be it written assignments, lab experiments, or periods of internship. The amount of subjects students take per semester and when they complete them are absolutely undetermined; students have complete freedom. Lectures are still held on scheduled times but they are more complementary than compulsory. Fire Nation colleges and universities aim to produce self-reliant and independent scholars with strength of intellect, initiative, and wisdom; flames that shines on their own. Fire Nation calls it 'effective' and 'independent'; critics preferred the term 'rushed' and 'off-handed'.

In the more social context, sixteen was the coming-of-age -the eligible age for marriage, ownership of properties, being tried as an adult, and voting- but, curiously, thirteen was the minimum age where one was allowed to enter workforce or military service; thirteen was also the age where one was allowed to enter courtships although no specific written rule exists for this one. Still, for all their advancement and wealth in cultural values, sexual intercourse before marriage was highly frowned upon, consensual or not, and a double standard against females existed.

Azula woke up with the sun, tired in body but strangely alert in mind. Sleepily, she got down; her bare feet made no sound on the carpeted floor. She staggered half-asleep around the couch, climbed up, and snuggled into Lin's chest; the latter was sleeping on the couch using Azula's coat as a blanket. She hugged his neck and buried her face on the crook of his neck, sighing deeply. When she felt his arms around her waist and the back of her head, holding her in place so she would not fall over, she whined. "I don't wanna go to school."

He snickered. "What're you? Four?" he asked with a cracked voice.

"I don't wanna go to work", Azula corrected her whining with another whine.

"Call *_yawn_* Zuko", he said, rubbing her back. "Tell him you've got… I don't know, a cold or something."

"In summer?" Azula purred, already feeling the temptation to reach for her cellphone on the coffee table. "Nah, I want to know where this case leads. We're going to meet with the House of Wu today. Zuko's bad with this kind of thing."

She emerged and looked up to his face; he looked down with eyes half-opened. Azula climbed up, straddling him for balance and lying on top of him with her head on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his steady heartbeat. Lin pushed her hair off her face gently.

"No lunch?" he asked.

"Nope", Azula muttered. Since they would be chasing a lead today, chances are she was going to have to eat lunch between traffics.

"You need a vacation", Lin said. "Wanna spend the weekend on the beach?"

"Hmm… no. Let's go the mall", Azula suggested; Lin gasped.

"Oh, my… mingling with people? Real people?" he asked dramatically. "_Princess_ Azula…"

"Shut up", she giggled, pinching his arm. Raising her head, she pushed herself up a bit; Lin put his hands on the girl's waist, Azula leveled her face on his and kissed the tip of his nose. "I need to pick up a birthday gift for Uncle Iroh."

"You Royal Family people are all born in summer, huh?" he pondered as Azula rested her head on his chest once more. "Do you guys time your date of conception or…" Azula chuckled while he continued. "… I mean, come on! It can't be a coincidence that for the last five hundred –ow!- years, no member of the Roya—"

"I'll tell my dad you said that!" Azula feigned anger as she got down and pulled the boy down to the floor. She ran to the bathroom quickly before he could retaliate.

Getting ready for the day, she got out fifteen minutes later to an empty room. She dressed herself and she was about to put on her boots when Lin entered the room, talking rapidly in a language that Azula faintly recognize.

The guttural, throaty sound Lin made brought the image of… well-dressed Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom people… and three strangers wearing sandy brown turbans, loose-fitting robes, and one of them was very old and hunched, bearing some sort of scepter; and the smell of sunburn, the smell of sun. Sandbenders…

Azula remembered when she was a kid, four or five years old. The Decade War, or the Fire-Earth Conflict as it was officially known, was still at its toddler years. Both Fire Lord Azulon and Earth King Yi Ming, with the guidance from the Monastic Order of the Air Nomads, were looking for a peaceful solution to the war. A peace talk was held during the Summer Solstice, the Day of Life Abundance in Fire Nation culture.

The whole Royal Family attended the ball, including the naïve little Azula who commented openly on the funny and weird language some of the more exotic looking Earth Kingdom delegations were using. The horrified Lu Ten promptly gagged the little girl and secured her to a nearby cookies table before she could worsen the bilateral dispute. That was when her big cousin told her that the Earth Kingdom, being a huge planet with a wealth of cultures, had many indigenous languages although around 95% of the inhabitants did speak the common Four Nations language of Shi Hassa as a lingua franca.

The Fire Nation, like the Water Tribe and Air Nomads, had all but abandoned their indigenous language since time immemorial, so the concept of people speaking in different languages was quite strange for the little princess. Lu Ten told him that Kho-lo, the language of the dessert-dwellers, was quite similar to the Common Tongue in term of syntax and even shared some short monosyllabically words; also curiously their word for 'destiny' is 'density' and, to answer Azula's question, their word for 'density' is 'dnitsey'.

Lin paused, threw Azula a glance, and Lin fired some rapid words to the phone again; the person in the other end said something and Lin grunted. "Clal you ltear, Rha-Mi."

He turned off the cellphone and starter his long screechy, "Aaaahhh…" that, to Azula, was a harbinger of bad news and/or broken or postponed promises.

She narrowed her eyes sharply, scowling. Carrying her weapons, coat, and hair ornament in her hands, she walked past him, dodging his feeble attempt to reach out for her shoulder. She descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen. She sat down at the counter, putting his holstered guns on it and tucking her badge on her sash.

A maid robot -dark red and with the structure that looked like three large cheese wheels on top of each other connected by flexible metal hoses, with arms coming out of the middle part, running on wheels- appeared and asked in an automated voice of a female. _"Good morning, Miss Kai_", the top 'cheese wheel' had a dark monitor with yellow lines that formed a face; two on the top that looked like eyes, and one below that mimicked a mouth_. "Would you like some breakfast? We are having meat buns today."_

"Yes, and some coffee", Azula said, stretching. She got up and walked towards the fridge. As she was about to reach for some pudding cups, her cellphone buzzed in her pocket. Groaning, she reached out to it and received Zuko's usual 'worried sick big brother' text messages and voicemails; there were also at least three holographic messages. "Oh, and pack me some lunch", Azula's head popped out behind the fridge door.

"_Absolutely, Miss Kai",_ said the robot from the steamer. _"Is there any menu you prefer?"_

"No, a couple of the meat buns would do", Azula emerged, balancing about six pudding cups on her arms, carrying a pitcher of lemonade, and her cellphone in the other hand. She put her load on the counter and checked her messages. Lin's voice accompanied his footsteps down the stairs. "I'm stealing some pudding cups!" Azula purposely shouted; he hurried to the smirking Princess, covering the mouthpiece, kissed her on the forehead, muttering a. "You'd get fat", which earned him a kick in the rump as he walked to the sink.

Azula strained her ears as she tried to listen in to his conversation; the sound of the water cascading on his washing hands, added with the foreignness of the desert tongue, was not helping much. He dried his hands sloppily on his pants (_"Boys!"_ Azula thought) and went to the fridge, concluding his phone call as he ducked. The way he had been occupied by his phone, and the utter lack of attention Azula had been receiving this morning gave her a sense of foreboding.

He closed the fridge door, chewing something which Azula guessed from the white cream on his cheek was his favorite vanilla custard pie. Getting up with a napkin, Azula approached him slowly, he was busy again texting while licking his fingers.

"I wonder", Azula begun, dabbing some cream off his face with her finger and licked it before wiping his face clean carefully with the napkin. "Which is more important: me or your job?" with extra accentuated '_b_' on her enunciation.

"You, of course, you… uh… you…" he grinned like an idiot, laughing weakly.

"Azula!"

"I know", he made a noise of strangled cat at his gut being pinched hard. "I'm kidding", he grinned, opening his arms to receive the girl. "Here, let me prove it", he opened a random drawer, which happened to house cutleries, put his cellphone in it, and pushed it closed loudly. Hugging each other again, they stayed that way for quite a while.

_Bzzt… bzzt…_

Azula bit her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing, keeping her head on his chest, gripping the back of his shirt.

_Bzzt… bzzt…_

Azula felt him shifting uncomfortably. Snickering slightly, she looked up, chaining her arms around his neck; he leaned down and Azula closed her eyes as Lin kissed the bridge of her nose. Lin mouthed '_you'_ when the girl opened her eyes, and kissed her again on the same spot.

_Bzzt… bzzt…_

Azula smirked as Lin's face began to twitch. Exasperating, she let go. "Just get it."

"I still care about you more", Lin said, grinning as he extracted his phone; Azula turned around and walked away, making gesture with her hand that resembled a yapping turtle-duck's beak. Chuckling, Lin caught her hand and pulled the whining girl's into his arm back first. Listening to the phone, he buried his face into Azula's hair that was still in ponytail and sniffed gently. "Good", he said to the phone and hissed urgently. "Standby. Call you later."

Lin put his phone in his pocket and began squeezing and kissing the girl in his arms. Azula simply sighed, pulling her head to the side to give him more access. "Don't let that deter you from what I've just said", Lin said, kissing Azula's temple, making her whine. "I love you."

Azula smiled a little. Turning around to face him, she circled her arms around his neck, tiptoed, and pecked him on the lips. "I know", she said tenderly. Then, flatly, she added. "What's the catch?"

"I may need to go to the Earth Kingdom next week", Lin said quietly. Azula grunted and tried to pry away but Lin held her still. "Come on", he smiled kindly, pressing his forehead on hers. "I said, I _may_ need to go. The weekend's still on. And I promise I'll try to get out of this, okay?"

"You know I hate it when people leave me", Azula grumbled; fixing her gaze on the bridge of his nose, she saw his face tighten into a smile.

"I love you", he said, drawing closer and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

Azula drew back, finally looked at Lin in the eye; there was the glint that she still found so mysterious. It brought reassurance, it soothed her, and, at the same time, it gave her the feeling that she was being set up for a prank. She tiptoed again and pecked her on the corner of his mouth, lightly grazing the corner of his lips, before she went back to the breakfast. Azula took the opportunity to wipe her temple where she had been kissed and check the remainder of her messages to avoid any conversation regarding Lin's possible _("Yeah, right",_ Azula mentally snorted) departure for the Earth Kingdom.

As they drained their cups and gathered their stuff, the maid robot approached, handing her a traditional wooden lunch box wrapped in a red cloth. _"Your lunch, Miss Kai."_

Azula took it and the robot ushered them out. At the door, the maid robot held the door for them. _"Have a wonderful day, Miss Kai, Young Master."_

Azula smirked, Lin bristled; she knew Lin disliked being called 'Young Master'. "If you were a real person, I'd banish you", the young master muttered.

Which caused the lines of the robot's eyes to curved upward and mouth downward, and turned pink. _"Aw, stop it. You're making me blush."_

Which, in turned, caused Lin to slam the door closed, fuming, and Azula to laugh openly. "I shouldn't have let Lu Ten tinker—"

He stopped abruptly; even Azula's smile melted. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he led the way to the garage. Azula followed silently, looking down at the pebbled ground. Her light summer coat felt heavy draping on her shoulders and the sound of the waves on the beach suddenly became deafeningly loud. Lin pointed his key on the garage; the door whirred open and his bike hovered out. They got on and rode their way to the Shinrin Diner in silence.

The Diner was as crowded as ever; the night market that mostly sold snacks and light meal had been replaced by the usual early morning traditional market that sold fresh vegetable and ingredients. As Azula waited by her car, she noticed the many foreign looking food and people among the midst. Rose Garden Borough was infamous as the place where the immigrants lived. She also suspected that half of them were without proper documentation and worked at nearby sweatshops or either docks or mines, depending on their bending abilities, for low wages and in sometimes inhumane condition.

She no longer felt the guilt.

Lin appeared shortly, still in his short sleeved garb. Azula entered her car and he followed suit. In there, he turned to the pouting cross-armed Princess. "Come on", he sighed, smiling kindly. He leaned closer and tried to kiss her but Azula turned away. He stopped trying and opted to wait instead. When Azula showed no sign of caving in, he reached to her hand and, meeting no resistance, drew it closer to him. "I'll see what I can do, okay?" he promised, grasping and rubbing her fingers gently.

Azula turned to him, still sulking. Exhaling heavily, she grumbled. "Fine. But, if you cancel on the weekend, I'm gonna be stuck with Ty Lee and that would make me—"

"Unhappy", Lin sighed.

"—and that would mean—"

"You'd shoot a lightning bolt between my eyes."

"You have been warned", Azula huffed, not cracking under his warm kiss on her cheek. "And try to stay out of sight on this case. Zuko's been pressured by the top brass because he kept letting you go whenever you showed up and mess thing up."

"Aw, you do care about me", Lin snickered, leaning closer and kissed her on the lips… long and passionate. He pulled away and smiled his usual smile. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay", Azula whispered, letting him lean into her once more and kiss her on the corner of her mouth, grazing her lips a little.

With one last smile, Lin got out, leaving Azula slumping back on her seat, sighing deeply. Licking her lips for his leftover taste, she reached to her cellphone and set the automated voicemail status to _'I'm driving. Stop calling'_. She checked her reflection on the mirror, noticing how the bag under her eyes clashed with her pale complexion.

Shrugging nonchalantly, she threw her phone on the passenger's set and started her engine. She drove to the headquarters with little regard for traffic regulations, taking advantage of, again her siren, and, this time, the dead space between traffic altitudes. Fire Nation Air Traffic Regulations listed four separate altitudes for traffic lines.

The ground level line was reserved for public transportation and commercial use and large vehicles, so that covered busses, trailer trucks, and pizza delivery boys. The second and third altitudes of forty and eighty feet were for public use, each going one way. The forth and the highest was originally for ambulances and firefighter speeder-trucks but, after a while, it was considered rather ineffective since most fire and muggings occurred on ground level but, you know, the commercial traffics on the ground level had been rooted too deeply to accept changes so a new rule was established to allow emergency vehicles to run in between the altitudes. For some unfathomable reasons, the forth altitude was never abolished. On the plus side, firefighter trucks and ambulances going to maintenance, and the occasional army transports during the war, never got caught in traffic.

Azula arrived just before the clock struck 8:00. She fixed her gun and badge on her belt –standard procedure; every law enforcer is to carry firearms, if authorized, from portal to portal- and got out, clutching her coat, lunch, and hair ornament. A flash of pink rushed toward her; to her embarrassment, she reacted too slowly to dodge Ty Lee's bone crushing hug which was the bubbly girl's way of saying 'good morning'.

"Quit that!" she snapped, balancing herself. The pink girl giggled and let go.

"Oh", Ty Lee's gray eyes widened at Azula's appearance, scanning her up and down like a medic robot. "No makeup, hair undone, wearing the same clothes as yesterday. _Azula_!"

"I was working late", Azula stated plainly to counter Ty Lee's accurate accusation as they walked into the old-fort-turned-headquarters.

Still bearing ramparts and a moat, the ancient fort had been fitted with gun turrets, electricity, gas, and modern lightning to accommodate its new function. Inside, modern technology reigned supreme. Janitorial and worker robots of many makes, functions, designs, and sizes wheeled or hovered around, carrying out their programmed duties. Holographic panels dotted the walls here and there with interactive feature to show visitors ways, every now and then alternating with floating words _'Fire Nation Police Department – Protect and Serve'_ and'_Major Crime Response Team'_.

Azula had once hacked into the mainframe and added several lines of her own like _'Fire Nation Police Department – We Shoot to Kill'_ or _'Police Department – Justice at Reasonable Price'_ even _'Xiang Guo Freshly Squeezed Apple Juice. Like Mom Used to Make'_ that were programmed to show up every two hours. She had enjoyed a short-lived celebrity status among the folks until the top brass reported the incident to her father. The Prime Minister had taken her car away for a month and she had to rely on Zuko for transport for the entirety of two weeks.

Exiting the elevator that brought them to their office on the third level, the two girls made their way to their headquarters office. A vast two floored room with wooden paneled floor and bricked walls, the most prominent feature of the room was a large tabletop computer with a holographic display showing pictures of a van provided by Lin and a profile page of the victim of the ongoing case, Zhang Wu.

On their right were two lines of eight office desks inhabited by Mai, Ty Lee, Jee, and Chit Sang; a large set of couch and a coffee table was set under the window near the desks. On the other side was a double stairway with floating steps, framing the balcony that housed a double metal door under the signboard _'Main Command Center – Authorized Personnel Only'_. Underneath the balcony was a door leading to the auxiliary rooms; bathroom, interrogation rooms, training rooms, third level cafeteria, etc.

On the other side of the room directly in front of the elevator were two glass-walled offices of Zuko's and Azula's, standing on the right and left, like faithful guards, of a short flight of stairs leading to a raised floor housing the un-walled office of Operational Manager of the team, the retired Admiral Jeong Jeong.

Jeong Jeong's office consisted of a humble antique oak desk of red varnish, racks filled with books and folders, and a seemingly out of place tea ceremony set on a low rectangular desk with eight cushions around it that, for some reason, tied the whole space together. Jeong Jeong once removed the 'teatime corner' as Zuko had once dubbed it due to heavy staring and frowning it garnered from anyone who entered his office and, as the result, the team nearly fell apart; the absence made them giddy and short-tempered for some unknown reason.

The whole headquarters office was deserted. Azula heard their footsteps echo eerily over the low whirr from the tabletop computer. As Ty Lee made her way to her desk, Azula walked to her office. Putting her load on her table, she set her glass walls foggy from her desktop computer. She reached to a small dresser behind her desk and extracted fresh change of clothes. She changed, applied her makeup, and did her hair. Getting out, fully dressed, she nearly ran into Zuko who was standing at her door with fist raised as he was about to knock.

"Why didn't you return my call?" Zuko demanded sharply.

"Good morning, Zuzu. It is _lovely_ to see you, too", Azula smirked, pushing past her brother. Hearing Zuko's footsteps approaching, she added with formal tone. "I have a possible lead regarding Zhang Wu."

"What is it?" Azula smirked as she recognized the tone of begrudging interest in Zuko's voice; distracting him was so easy.

"Something about an interplanetary law enforcer team being established and Zhang Wu was strongly considered as a candidate", Azula shrugged as they paced to the main computer. "I don't think we have clearance for that kind of information. We'll need the Admiral."

Zuko frowned at his sister for a second. Having no reply, he turned to the holographic displays and dragged the profile away give more room for the van. "Last night, we got a report about a van—"

"—burnt and abandoned at East Line Borough", Azula finished his sentence lazily while checking her nails. Zuko threw her a sharp look that, while she enjoyed, she decided to ignore. "Where are the others?"

"Mai and Chit Sang are on the scene with the van to determine if it was the van we were looking for", Zuko said gruffly. "Jee is meeting with some informant from the underworld. Earth Kingdom weapons in Fire Nation; it must have involved some smuggling rings."

"So, we're going to meet the Wu's?" Azula asked.

Zuko shrugged. "The Admiral set up the meeting. He called me this morning and said he was going to handle it himself and the three of us are ordered on standby."

"Oh", Azula simply said. Shrugging, she turned and walked to the direction of the couch, already planning to steal some a short nap. She plopped down on the overstuffed, very fluffy cushion of the couch that always gave her the brief feeling of falling and lifted her feet up. Lying down, she took out her phone and began playing Angry Birds; she needed 500 worth of scores to beat Lin's.

The arrival of Jeong Jeong ten minutes later made her miss a shot; although, born lucky, the lousy red bird knocked down a feeble part of the wall that toppled the last pig on top of it to the ground. She led by 200. Smirking, she sent a quick text, '_beat ya!_' and her final score to Lin. She leaped up and, following the gesture from the old shaggy-haired admiral, followed Ty Lee to join him and Zuko at the tabletop.

Jeong Jeong pulled from his pocket a cellphone and put it on the tabletop screen; the automated function of the computer read the cellphone and displayed the progress immediately. The hologram shifted between pages of lines of random numbers and letters before settling down to a window.

_Password:__

Jeong Jeong tapped the screen, bringing a small square of menu option in front of him. He shifted through the programs and activated a decryption software. He began tapping rapidly on a holographic keyboard; the typical sound effect of a clicking keyboard gave way every now and then to a loud beep and, with every loud beep, the password window gained an asterisk.

It was no foreign scene to Azula but the sight of an old dude, any old dude, using a computer so expertly still plucked the '_yikes!_' nerve in her mind. The hologram sprung to life as Jeong Jeong entered the password, and the display was filled now with floating windows bearing text messages, voicemails, photos, and emails. Without another words, the old man nodded his silent orders at them and stalked off to his office.

Azula let go of the breath she did not realize she was holding; she heard Zuko exhaling loudly and Ty Lee openly heaved. Admiral Jeong Jeong was an intense person and had that effect on his surroundings. The trio shifted through the information, each silently realizing that the meeting with the Wu's had been taken care of.

As Azula read through the text messages, finding the most unusual thing being that a fifty something old veteran had been dating ("_Eww_…" she mentally remarked), the elevator dinged and in walked the rest of the team. Chit Sang greeted with, to those who were not familiar with him, uncharacteristically friendly, "Hey, guys", before heading to his desk; Mai and Jee joined them at the tabletop.

"It's the van", Mai informed, taking the spot right next to Zuko who showed very subtle signs of cheering up. Jee spoke next. "My contacts said there was a shipment of Earth Kingdom grain coming last week. When they checked, several containers were missing. They just assumed that it was the leftover post-war Earth Kingdom animosity, that Earth Kingdom people screwed them up."

"The assassins could have smuggled themselves", Zuko concluded. "Earth Kingdom weapons… makes sense. Who owns the ship?"

"Yu Bai Shipping Company", Jee informed. "Owned by one Zu Bai. No previous criminal records but is considered to be among the least honest entrepreneurs out there."

"Oh, hey, guys!" Chit Sang called from the couch, pointing at a TV mounted on the wall. "Look, it's on!"

Led by Jee, who was the tallest and the nearest to the couch, the whole team strode, or, in Ty Lee's case cartwheeled, to the lounge corner, joining Chit Sang who was turning the volume of the TV up. Jeong Jeong appeared later to see what the hoo-hah was just as the disembodied voice of the announcer was pointing out several prominent names on the setting of live broadcast of the Water Tribe summer Auroral Moon Festival.

"_And here we have Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe", _the announcer informed as Jeong Jeong decided that chiding the team for not doing their job was pointless at the time; the fact that almost the entire team consisted of teenagers in their rebellious phase influenced that decision heavily. Besides, he was quite curious of how the biggest international event since the Fire-Earth Conflict would go. _"… walking with Princess Katara to meet with Chief Arnook and Princess Yue."_

They watched the royalties of the two Water Tribes in ceremonial dress bowed to each other, witnessed by delegations of the other three Nations. The camera switched from the zoomed in view of the two Water Tribe Chieftains talking and embracing each other to the Princesses of the Tribes standing behind their respective chief.

Azula found herself intrigued by their sapphire blue eyes that, while not foreign to her since she had seen some Water Tribe people before around Shirin, mesmerized her slightly; the shift from her side caused by Mai and Zuko –or Mai hitting Zuko, from the sound of it- snapped her focus. She turned to them with the intention to shush them.

She missed whatever it was that caused the chaotic screaming on the screen.

When she turned back to the TV, she saw the Chief Arnook being dragged by some Water Tribe warriors, screaming as he tried to break free. Azula, and thankfully the camera, followed his desperately reaching hand to the white-haired Princess Yue lying on the ground bleeding, being tended by a Water Tribe boy in armor around Zuko's age, desperately pressing the wound on her chest to no avail. The announcer's words were lost in the visual chaos unfolding before their widened eyes. But, not even the chaos could fully engulf the boy's screaming the white-haired Princess' name as he tried to keep her dying self from bleeding out.

"…Whoa…" came from Chit Sang.

"Was that… green plasma bolt?" Zuko asked unsurely. "Earth Kingdom bullet?"

"Chit Sang, rewind it", Jeong Jeong ordered. The images on TV going the familiar fast motion backward seemed ironically comical.

"—_Princess Katara to meet with Chief Arnook and Princess Yue",_ the announcer's cheery but professional tone felt weird to the team. The camera zoomed in on the embracing Chiefs, to Princess Katara and Princess Yue, both smiling at their chiefs, and the camera zoomed out again to view the four royalties in one frame. The two chiefs walked towards the crowd; Chief Arnook raised his hands and opened his smiling mouth to address the crowd when, out of nowhere, a flash of green –maybe… it was hard to see with the bright lighting and the blue outfit- hit the man on the left shoulder and Princess Yue, who was standing a step behind him on the left collapsed.

"Freeze on the shot", Jeong Jeong's voice made Azula twitch a little. Chit Sang fumbled with the remote and, after three tries, froze the frame just as the bolt almost bit the Chief on the shoulder. It was indeed green.

"This spells war", Jee concluded glumly.

Zuko spoke next. "Zhang Wu was considered for a recruitment into some interplanetary law enforcer team", Azula turned to her brother and shot him a sharp look; he stole her credit! "He was also killed with Earth Kingdom guns."

Jeong Jeong sighed deeply. "Yes, I am aware of this law enforcer team idea. Minister Anzen…" Fire Nation Minister of Public Security. "…has informed every public security departments and branches of the military. He asked for recommendation for the candidates."

"Zhang Wu?" Mai drawled suspiciously.

"Minister Anzen knew him personally; they served in the Army together", Jeong Jeong informed and stopped there. The team waited for more. "He also planned to recall some retired veterans like Zhang Wu and recruited some distinguished civilians."

Five seconds later, Zuko asked. "And?"

"And what?" Jeong Jeong asked back.

"Well, are we— is any of us being recommended?" Zuko asked uneasily and, Azula noted, a little hopefully.

Jeong Jeong cleared his throat and stood up, straightening his robe. "That hardly matters", he was back to his gruff self. "Now, about Zhang Wu case."

"It's the van", Mai reported.

"Talked to some dockworkers on the shadier side", Jee came next. "The Earth Kingdom might have smuggled some assassins. A name came up: Zu Bai, owner of a shipping company."

"And the phone?" Jeong Jeong asked; they all grew quiet. "And the PHONE?!"

They sprang to life suddenly like rabbit-horses being whipped, running to the tabletop and began shifting through the data again; Chit Sang, who was not participating in the first place, looked and looked like he felt out of place. Fuming, the retired admiral prowled towards his team, looking ready to spit some magma. Azula, like she knew each and every one of his teammates did, felt the room growing warmer.

"Got something", it was Mai who spoke first. "Email, unknown sender. Something about a meeting in '_the designated place'_. The timestamp is a day before the vic was found dead."

"This could be it", Jee called next; Azula began to sense a pattern here. "A text message. It says '_Fernwood Park'_, blocked number. Timestamp a couple of hours after the email", he added, wincing at the email.

"Right", Jeong Jeong muttered. He spoke next with his authoritative tone. "Jee, followed up on your lead. Take Chit Sang. Mai, the van, did they use explosives?"

"Yes, we found some sort of a timer", Mai nodded.

"Go to the lab, identify the chemical compound. See if you can trace it", Jeong Jeong furthered his order. Mai nodded wordlessly and simply turned and walked to the door below the balcony. Turning to the rest of the team, Jeong Jeong pointed at the holographic display of the text message Jee had found. "Zuko, you go to the Fernwood Park. See if you can find where and when Zhang Wu was there. Check if there is any surveillance camera nearby."

Zuko muttered a 'yes' and went to his office to gather his stuff.

"As for you two", Jeong Jeong turned to Azula and Ty Lee who abruptly stopped what they were doing. "You stay and sort these things", he gestured at the hologram. "And be on standby to provide rear support", Azula knew it was directed at her.

"And what will you do, _sir_?" Azula asked with an emphasis on the last word. She rarely called Jeong Jeong '_sir'_ and, when she did, it almost always carried contempt.

"I have some phone call to make", the retired admiral said grimly, turning a little to the direction of the TV. He turned to his office just as Zuko, fully equipped, walked past by. "Zuko", Jeong Jeong halted him. "Be careful."

"Yes, Admiral", Zuko bowed formally. Turning to Azula and Ty Lee, he tried to smile. He failed.

The scarred Prince simply walked to the direction where Jee had gone off to and, with one last nod, Jeong Jeong stalked off to the door below the balcony. Azula's curious nature took this as the sign that he was making a very important and private phone call. Her suspicion took aim at the news about the formation of the interplanetary law enforcer team.

Not even her father the Prime Minister had said anything about it in their weekly family dinner every weekend; but, then again, her overprotective father might have just been too cautious (she would avoid the term 'paranoid') regarding her and Zuko's safety. For their joining the police force and living far from home –the Prime Minister's description of 'far' being, of course, 'outside' their lavish and securely guarded royal estate-, Zuko and Azula must even hide their royal status.

The siblings lived in a rather small but cozy apartment complex that had half its inhabitants moving out a week before they moved in, only to be replaced almost immediately by men and women in their prime adulthood; the oldest of which was a fifty five year old man with muscle tone that rivaled a stereotypical earthbending master. Azula and Zuko knew their father and his lack of subtlety played a hand in this and suspected that those fellow new tenants were Royal Processions. Elite and experienced Royal Processions.

But, they left the two incognito royals alone so the aforementioned two incognito royals ignored their whole existence. Their parents had not said anything so they reciprocated and feigned ignorance too.

"Oh, look!" Ty Lee exclaimed suddenly bouncing up and down, pointing at a picture on the hologram display. "What a cute puppy!"

She shrunk under the amber glare of the Princess. "Find anything useful?" Azula asked with poisonously friendly smile and silky smooth tone.

"Um… no…?" the pink girl gulped. "Your aura is going all… um… what color is burning… magma?" quickly she went back to the folders.

It took them three hours to look through everything but they found nothing else of importance. With nothing else to do, Azula found herself lying back on the couch, watching a TV program about scorpion-beekeeping. Ty Lee was on the floor doing a handstand on her fingers while listening to music. Mai joined them five minutes later bringing with her a folder she put on the coffee table as she slumped on the couch and sighed deeply.

"Hey!" Ty Lee exclaimed suddenly in all perkiness of hers. Azula curled her feet up as Ty Lee made a dash to the couch where she was lying. "It's just us girls here. Like old times!"

Mai showed only the slightest change in her facial muscle while Azula snorted a little as she shifted position and used Ty Lee's lap as a pillow. "Come on", Ty Lee exclaimed again. "Let's do something!"

"No", came flatly from the other two.

* * *

Jee was ushered into the warehouse office on the second floor by a well-dressed man whose neat resplendent red garb looked strange in the surrounding setting that screamed the word decrepitude; walls of rotted wooden planks, floorboard that creaked under his weight, threatening to plunge him onto the water where the warehouse was standing, stains of grease and large splinters of wood produced by the moving of many crates of metal and wooden materials.

The door was a thin weathered wood that, according to the flaked off paint, used to be bright brown. A patch of sunlight fell upon the door through one of the many holes on the tall riddled weathered roof. The first thing that came to Jee's mind was that this place certainly was not as legal as it appeared and the many blue-eyed and green-eyed men and women he had passed through on the first floor hauling fish on large nets and cargos of many sizes must be illegal immigrants; the second thing was that this place would not pass a health and safety inspection.

His escort knocked on the door; Jee noticed how rhythmic it was. _Knock-knock… Knock. Knock_. The door creaked open; Jee did not like the way it moved on its hinges. The inside of the office was quite like the surrounding. The carpet on the floor did, however, look new but Zu Bai, the obese sweaty double-chinned middle-aged man with black hair in top-knot, was certainly not an interior decorator.

With great difficulty, Zu Bai pushed himself up his chair behind his desk. He walked past through piles of papers and folders that littered on his desk, floor, and file cabinets around the room and offered Jee a handshake. The grease Jee was covertly wiping on his pants, he was sure, came from the bowl of fireflakes on the table. Zu Bai gestured to the beat up looking couch on the corner of the room. They moved there and Jee sat first; it gave him the experience of the couch sinking deep under him as Zu Bai sat down.

"So, Sergeant Jee", the host spoke with a rough throaty voice that made Jee's brow twitch. "I heard you're here about our missing cargo."

"Yes", Jee rubbed his nose a little; the smell of fish a floor down was caught in the room's air conditioner. "Earth Kingdom grain?"

Zu Bai clicked his tongue and waved his massive hand impatiently at Jee's suspicious tone. "The war's over, you know", he said sourly. "We do trade with the Earth Kingdom legally now. Besides, I run a shipping company. I just provide ships and crates. What people put in it is recorded in our file, of course", he got up with a heave and walked to his desk; he returned later with a folder. "I have the manifesto", he handed it to Jee. "Grain from Earth Kingdom; four missing crates."

"Did you do any follow up?" Jee asked, scrutinizing the numbers of the file.

"Of course", Zu Bai took a large handkerchief and wiped his sweaty face and neck. "They did not respond. I just assumed that it was the post-war hate."

"What about the owner of the cargo?" Jee looked up from the file. "Did they file a complaint?"

"No, not at all", Zu Bai pointed at the file in Jee's hand. "Fire Koi Confectionary, their contacts are in there. When I notified them via email, they didn't even reply it. They paid in full."

"Can I have access to those emails?" Jee asked.

"It's all in there. I printed some copies", Zu Bai nodded at the folder again. "Is there anything else, Sergeant?"

"Can I see the ship that carries the cargo?" Jee requested.

Zu Bai shook his head. "No, sorry. We sent it to the Earth Kingdom for another trip last week. It's not due back in six days."

"Surveillance on the cargo bay?" Jee drawled.

"We don't have any", Zu Bai laughed dryly. "Some patrons are not very fond of… uh, having their cargo seen. The war might be over but not many nobles would like it if the public knew that they have preference for, say, Earth Kingdom antiques or exotic Water Tribe cuisine. We did install some cameras but they are only for show."

"I see", Jee got up with the folder. "Thank you for your cooperation, sir", he extended a hand.

"Of course, of course", for the first time, Zu Bai cracked a wide smile. He took Jee's hand and shook it. "Always glad to help the police."

_Damn right_, Jee mentally thought as he found himself back under the sunny sky outside the warehouse. He turned back to see two of the well-dressed guards keeping an eye on him as he walked. He felt uneasy but tried to ignore it as he walked towards the SUV where Chit Sang was waiting.

"How'd it go?" the large thin-mustached man asked as Jee climbed onto the passenger's seat.

"You know where Fire Koi Confectionary is?" Jee asked back.

"Yeah, somewhere on Summer's Street. I bought a box of chocolate for my girl there", Chit Sang started the engine and the vehicle smoothly elevated a few inches in the air. "Why?"

"Well", Jee turned to him and smirked. "I'm in the mood for some bonbons."

* * *

Zuko walked through the park, turning right and left for any anomalies or surveillance cameras. He found none but he felt like he was being watched. True enough, as he paced deeper through the stone walkway, he noticed from the corner of his eyes a group of girls tailing him while whispering to each other. Could be trouble, he told himself as he tugged the lapels of his thin summer coat to better hide his gun and badge.

He covertly tapped his earpiece, masking it as a gesture of pushing his hair back. "I got someone on my tail", he muttered discreetly to the communicator.

Lin's voice was the unusual cool and collected as he responded_. "On my way."_

Zuko hastened his pace a little, trying not to look back. He covertly snaked his right hand into his coat, to his gun on his left shoulder holster. Lin's unexpected voice in his earpiece nearly made him jump. _"Zuko, no guns."_

"Why?" Zuko mumbled back without opening parting his clenched teeth.

"_Civilians"_, Lin warned. Zuko's eyes darted from right to left. True enough, many Fire Nation denizens were around on the grass enjoying the sunny summer day; the voice of the children running around merrily chasing each other was prominent in his ear.

"_Don't look around"_, Lin said again through the communicator. _"I've got visual on you. I'll guide your steps. We'll herd them to me; we'll flank them and take them together."_

"Good", Zuko muttered. He put his complete trust on Lin's instructions of _'turn left', 'go right', 'straight from here', 'the magazine stand, look through some magazines or something to look less conspicuous … and see if they have the new _Ninja X_ comic', 'I can see that. Put that finger away'_, _'take a drink from the fountain before you go but don't turn to them', 'yes, steady, Zuko. You see those portable toilets ahead of you?'_

Zuko looked ahead at the line of four bright red portable toilets and scratched his nose once.

"_Good",_ Lin said. _"Walk past it. We'll align them with the toilets. That way, they'll only have one way to run. Don't stop until I say so and slow down a bit, will you?"_

Zuko clenched his jaw. He covertly gathered his chi to his palms and fingertips, ready to deliver a firebending assault. Lin's drawling anticipatively _'keep going, keep going… a bit mooooore…'_ made him want to pee. He considered the older boy a very close friend, the closest thing he had to a brother since Lu Ten passed away but, dear Agni, sometimes Zuko wanted nothing more but to strangle the guy with a barbed wire.

"_Okay, Zuko"_, Lin said finally. _"On the count of three, you turn around. Do not attack; we'll interrogate them first."_

Zuko regulated his breathing. His eyes darted to the ground, trying to check the shadow; the afternoon sun was shining to his direction, casting his shadow away to his back.

"_One."_

Zuko looked around. The part of the public park was relatively empty save for a street performer playing a tsungi horn.

"_Two…"_

Surely, it was okay to use firearm. Zuko did not particularly like using lethal force and a firebender could control the intensity of his flame better than a gunman the deadliness of his bullet.

"_Three!"_

No guns!

Zuko turned around abruptly. Standard protocol required him to shout out. "_Police_!" before he did anything. The pigtailed girl, however, was faster. "Hi!"

Zuko did not know if he should gasp, squeak, or stammer; his body decided to do all of them at the same time. The girl, and three others behind her, giggled. With slightly blushing cheeks, she said. "Hi, I'm Mei."

Zuko mentally slapped his forehead; the, '_ppfft!_' from his earpiece was of no help whatsoever.

"_I'm making a video out of this."_

"What?!" Zuko hissed angrily.

"Oh, well, you see", Mei, the pigtailed girl, smiled. "Um, me and my friends are looking for some ice cream. It's so hot today", she traced her fingers on her neck almost temptingly; the other girl's stifled their giggle. "Do you know where we can get some?"

"_There's an ice cream cart on the east side",_ ever the helpful one, Lin offered.

"There's… an ice cream cart", Zuko said with clenched jaws and a pleasant snarl. "East side."

"_Smooth, lover boy",_ Lin chuckled as Mei asked chirpily. "Oh, the east side?"

"Shut up!" Zuko hissed to the earpiece again.

"Um, sorry?" Mei blinked in surprise.

"N-no, not you", Zuko blurted out to the girl.

"_Thank you. I do admire your manner, Zuzu."_

"Not you!" he hissed. "And don't call me that!"

"Um, okay", Mei laughed nervously. She turned to the other girls and, after a brief moment of being egged on with gestures and thumbs up, she turned to Zuko and was back to her cheerful self. "Hey, wanna go get some ice cream with us?"

"_Oh-uh, Zuko, my grandpa's calling. I'm gonna tell him we're still looking, okay?"_

"Yes."

"Oh, good", Mei moved in quickly, linked her arm on Zuko's, and started dragging him away with the other girls. "Cause, you know, we were thinking that—"

Zuko wasn't listening anymore. He was too busy kicking himself mentally.

Sitting on a tree branch, hidden inside the foliage, Lin was grinning ear to ear as he pointed his cellphone camera at the mortified Prince being hauled away by some girls. Taking the ice cream stick clenched between his teeth, he turned off his earpiece and snickered. "Azula's gonna love this."

* * *

Azula closed her cellphone app as she consolidated another 100 points to her game. She yawned once and picked herself up the couch. Stretching, she paced to her office, rubbing her tired eyes. She came back to the couch with her lunch. Ty Lee, who was slouching, giggling as she typed away on her cellphone, looked up and went for her lunch too. Mai had gone back to the lab earlier. The Admiral had not gone back since he left to make his phone calls.

Azula was untying the knot of the wrapping cloth when Ty Lee arrived with a box of colorful donuts. "Hey, Azula?"

"Hmm?" Azula took off the lid of her lunchbox and picked up a bun.

"What do you think about that law enforcer team?" Ty Lee slouched on the couch with a heavily and colorfully sprinkled donut.

Azula shrugged. She bit her meat bun delicately. "It's none of our concern", the Princess said. "And the plan is now pretty much moot anyway."

Ty Lee's puffy cheeks stopped moving. Azula sighed and sat up. "Fact is, a Fire Nation war veteran is killed by who appeared to be a group of Earth Kingdom assassins", she flicked the wrist of her bun holding hand. "And then we have a botched assassination attempt on a Water Tribe chief that cost the life of their Princess", she lifted her other hand. "Also with a major Earth Kingdom element."

Mai arrived and joined them with her own boxed lunch.

"The war's only been over for two years. Animosity still exists", Azula droned on. Mai snapped her disposable chopsticks rather loudly, drawing Azula's attention.

"I got this", she sighed as she positioned her chopsticks. Azula turned to Ty Lee and she could almost see a question mark hanging above the bubbly girl's head. "Think of it like this, Ty Lee: would you date an Earth Kingdom guy?"

"Well, yeah", Ty Lee giggled. "But, my parents might not be too happy though."

"Right", Mai nodded, pausing a little to eye sharply at Azula who had crawled to her side of the couch with a bun bitten in her mouth and picked a piece of tomato from her salad side dish; for a Princess, Azula could appear crass and strange sometimes due to her social ineptitude. That was why Azula had never been sent on an undercover mission. "Now that we have these incidents –a Fire Nation highly decorated veteran and a Water Tribe Princess dead-, will your parents be more or less likely to let you date an Earth Kingdom."

"Less likely? _Oh_…" Ty Lee nodded slowly, finally comprehending the argument.

"Fire Nation and Water Tribe will never want to work alongside Earth Kingdom", Azula nicked another piece of delectable from Mai's lunchbox. "And if Fire Nation and Water Tribe do form their own law enforcer team?" the Princess smirked for some reason.

"…"

"Ty Lee", Mai sighed, putting her chopsticks and lunchbox down. "How would you feel if Azula and I do this?" they leaned towards each other and started whispering loud enough to be heard but not comprehended, and broke off only to laugh and throw Ty Lee a sly look.

"Hey! _Oh_…" Ty Lee's shoulders slumped. "I see what you mean."

"Exactly", Mai slapped Azula's hand lightly but the Princess still made away with her sausage.

"What?" Azula scowled. "I bring dessert."

"Fair enough", Mai shrugged and went back to her meal.

"Wow…" Ty Lee was still processing the information. "Those people are the worst. They kill a war hero and a Water Tribe Princess just for this."

"Actually, they tried to kill the Chief", Azula pointed out, waving her meat bun. "They nixed the Princess by mistake."

"All those killings just to stop this police team from happening", Ty Lee muttered sadly. "That's just wrong."

"Well, it's—", Mai stopped short; Azula halted her meat bun midair. They turned and looked at each other, understanding dawning on their faces. Quickly, they raced to the tabletop computer. Mai threw her lunchbox sloppily to the table coffee table while Azula, being seated in the middle, had to leap over it.

"What? What? What did I say?" Ty Lee exclaimed as her two friends typed away rapidly on the tabletop computers; colorful holographic display flicked into life.

"I got the Water Tribe", Mai shouted to the other side of the table where Azula, again with a bun bitten in her mouth, was summoning several data folders from the mainframe; Mai allowed herself to roll her eyes at Azula's unladylike conduct.

"What's wrong?" Ty Lee paced to them, frowning, with a hardening donut in her hand.

"You, Ty Lee, are a genius", Mai muttered.

"Whoa!" Azula stopped working suddenly, taking her bun off her mouth. "That's a bit insulting to us real genius."

"Hey!" Ty Lee huffed, putting her hands on her hips; she obviously forgot she was holding a donut. "Eww!"

"I take that back", Mai sighed.

"Thank you", Azula bit her bun back and went back to work. Ty Lee glared for a moment before she stalked off to the bathroom to get her pants cleaned.

Several minutes of work later, Azula let out a series of urgent sounding _'mmpph! MPPPHHH!'_ (Mai! MAI!).

"Are you sure you're a Princess?" Mai narrowed her eyes at her.

Azula returned the look. "Look", with her free hand, she enlarged the holographic display of a picture of a platoon of soldiers, posing in front of a Fire Nation tundra tanks. "58th heavy weapons infantry platoon under General Shu. We have Minister Anzen and Zhang Wu", Azula tapped several holographic keyboard keys; circles appeared around two of the forty five faces. "During the war, the 58th platoon was a part of an ambush; they were ambushing an Earth Kingdom Army convoy of ammo and fuel. Some idiot shot the fuel trucks and they exploded. The 58th, along with three other platoons, were nearly annihilated. There were only five survivors from the 58th", all faces but the previous two and three others were crossed. "Minister Anzen is, as we all know, well and alive. Zhang Wu was killed yesterday", a cross appeared on Zhang Wu's face. "Private Zhu Ming died several weeks after the ambush as the result of the injuries sustained from the explosion", a cross appeared on the face of a soldier grinning widely sitting on the tank's tread. "Corporal Zi was admitted to Fire Nation Military Mental Facility for PTSD after the war", a circle appeared on a glum looking bearded soldier crouching on the front line. "And the last is Private Zu Bai… hey, isn't that the guy Jee mentioned?"

"Yeah", Mai brought up her findings now; profile pages of Chief Arnook and Princess Yue. "Look", she brought up another two windows; one was a video recording of Arnook speaking in what appeared to be a formal conference attended by international audiences, judging from the clothing and some obvious looking Air Monks among the crowd, and the second one was a newspaper page with Arnook's face and titled '_Water Tribe Chief Calls for Unity Against Common Threat_'. "It says Arnook spoke up against international crime", Mai tapped several other keys and all their windows disappeared, leaving the video recording that was enlarged to take up the entire space; she turned up the volume.

"_It is high time the Four Nations be united. We share the same cause: the betterment of our future and the preserving of our present. Crimes are going rampant across the space. Cooperation between Nations is lacking and criminals take advantage of it. Pirates raid the Water Tribe and hyperspace away to the outskirts of Earth Kingdom, hiding along the coast; raiders stole into Fire Nation ruins, hauling national artifacts, and found refuge in nearby Air Nomad's mountains. They are untouchable in a foreign planet where their crime and punishment do not reach them—"_

"Jee said Zu Bai might not be involved", Mai stopped the replay. "He and Chit Sang are investigating a confectionary store that owns the cargo."

"If the assassins are taking down potential candidates for the team and Minister Anzen recruited his army buddies, they might come for Zu Bai", Azula typed Zu Bai's name on the search engine. "Yikes! Zu Bai got big…" she grimaced at the current picture of the former soldier. "Huh… his record in the Army seems a bit ordinary; no particularly big achievement. I don't think Anzen would even consider him", she clicked her tongue furiously. "If only we can get the names of those considered for recruitment."

"We can try Jeong Jeong", Mai shrugged. "Still, this is pretty flimsy."

"Yeah", Azula muttered, nibbling her bun. "Unless Zuko and Jee got anything to support this."

"Speak of the devil", Mai nudged her chin at the elevator behind Azula. Jee and Chit Sang walked in. Jee had a folder tucked on his belt and a box in his hands while Chit Sang had some fancy looking paper bags that somehow reminded Azula and Mai of Ty Lee. The aforementioned Ty Lee appearing at that moment and screaming "Fire Koi!" before sprinting to Chit Sang like a child to Santa Claus, made the two girls groan.

"Wow!" Ty Lee received the bags Chit Sang gave her. "I've never been to Fire Koi in ages! We used to go there all the time. Remember?" she turned the last part to the stone-faced Azula and Mai.

"_You_ went there", Azula corrected bluntly and Mai added just as dryly. "_We_ were simply there."

"The costumes?" Jee grimaced at the two girls by the tabletop as he put his load near the computer. Azula and Mai simply shivered as a reply.

"What? I thought they were cute", Chit Sang said from his desk where he stored a wrapped up box of chocolate that might get him laid later.

"Me too", Ty Lee supported the argument.

"Hey", Zuko greeted tiredly as he walked out the elevator, lifting up his tablet. "I got some recording."

Azula halted her bun again when her cellphone beeped. She fished it out of her pocket and checked whatever it was that carved a very Azula-ish smirk on her face. "Zuzu", she called with that silky tone of hers. "Is that a hickey I see on your neck?"

* * *

When Jeong Jeong entered the command room, he was expecting a riot. A fight; an argument at least. He had stopped making conjectures and putting hope on his team members to coexist peacefully long ago. He always carried a small tablet with him that tracked down each and every one of his team member via a tiny GPS tracker in their badges and he had a tiny beeping feature to warn him if they were all present in an enclosed space at the same time continuum.

The last time his team was together in the middle of gathering clues and chasing leads, he had to call the security to restrain Zuko, he almost Agni Kai-ed Azula, he had to buy Ty Lee some ice cream to stop her from crying, and Jee nearly resigned in a fit of anger. Mai and Chit Sang, he trusted to behave; Mai because nothing got to her and Chit Sang because… nothing got to him but in a different way. Mai did not let things affect her personally while Chit Sang just plain did not care.

When he witnessed something akin to a civilized conversation, he covertly pinched himself.

"So, let's recap", Azula cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Zhang Wu went to Fernwood Park after receiving an email from an unknown sender; at least unknown to us", Azula pointed at the holographic display of a video surveillance. "Then, this happened."

She pressed play and the video showed the park at night –it was black and white but they knew it was night because the park's neon lights were on- and Zhang Wu's back was pacing down the walkway, looking left and right covertly. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back; his hand dived into his robe for his gun. He brought the hand out slowly, unarmed. His mouth moved as if he was speaking and his facial expression was neutral. Suddenly, a masked man ran up to him from behind and whacked him behind the head with a baton. Several more burly men appeared from outside the camera frame and they hauled the unconscious man away.

"Time stamp is five days ago", Azula continued as the footage stopped. "We found Zhang Wu dead last evening. Autopsy showed that he was already dead when they dumped and shot him with Earth Kingdom guns on the street", she brought forth the crime scene photos and the pictures of the van Lin had taken. "And we found the stolen van used by the killers disposed and blown up the same night", photos of a blackened and burnt van taken by Mai and Chit Sang showed up. "Test on the chemical compound in the explosive used showed little since they used common household chemicals readily available in any retail stores; the fact that they used explosives instead of simple incendiary substances showed that these killers might be militarily trained and well-prepared."

They murmured their agreement.

"And about Zu Bai", Azula yielded the floor to Jee.

"He runs a shipping company", Jee brought up the current profile of Zu Bai. "It's legit, technically speaking. But, I suspect he employs illegal immigrants and is involved with some smuggling rings. While I was in his warehouse, there was always a guard with me", he brought up two more pictures; Fire Koi confectionary store and an enlarged picture of Zu Bai's warehouse that showed several stacked crates. "According to Zu Bai, there are four missing crates, each was 1 meter high, 2 meters long."

"Enough for a person to lie down inside comfortably", Zuko added.

"Hence supporting the 'Earth Kingdom assassins' theory", Jee nodded. "We traced the owner of the crates to Fire Koi Confectionary, a store that sells pastries and candies", Jee pointed at the picture of a bright red candy store with two giant fire koi curving on each other side by side, forming a heart. "The owner, one Narau Nhai, tricky name, was not on site", Jee nudged his chin at the Fire Koi hologram. "In fact, none of the workers remember ever seeing him. Ever", he resumed darkly. "He signs their paychecks but never shows his face. We suspect it was an alias."

"Or it could be a fake identity", Mai spoke up.

"Agree", Jee nodded. "What intrigues me is that Zu Bai doesn't seem like the type who let anyone do his business for him. His office is filled with papers. He's like that crazy conspiracy theorist neighbors who doesn't use banks because the government 'borrows' our money to build some secret gigantic starship that transgressed every law of Hongmen Convention of civilized warfare, or even cellphones because the government 'tracks' people through electronic devices that emits radio frequency. I just don't see him striking a deal with an invisible man. Interestingly, he does use emails."

"And about the interplanetary law enforcer theory", Azula brought up the next argument. "Zhang Wu was tortured, that much we know. What bother me is that the killers didn't put too much effort in hiding the torture marks. He suffered several cuts and bruises", she brought up several autopsy photos showing said cuts and bruises. "Consistent with systematic cutting and bludgeoning. They obviously undressed him before torturing him, which explains the lack of damage on the clothing, but why put them back on when they dumped him; at least why that neatly?"

"To throw us off?" Ty Lee shrugged.

Azula shrugged back. Crossing her arms, she continued. "Anyways, we know that Zhang Wu is considered to be recruited for this interplanetary law enforcer team. The well-planned and systematic kidnapping, torturing, and killing of his suggest a deep motif for his demise. And, as we are all aware, earlier today, there was an assassination attempt on Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe. The fact that he was shot by what appeared to be an Earth Kingdom plasma bolt and that he is the major contributor to this interplanetary law enforcer team notion –wow, that's a mouthful- is a bit too coincidental."

"At this point, we can't prove or disprove the connection", Zuko pondered aloud. "Not without checking on the other candidates."

"But, that is a classified information and we don't have the clearance", Azula voiced her opinion. "I've tried."

"Or we can try checking with the House of Wu again to see if Zhang Wu had an enemy or something."

"But, the Admiral took care of the House of Wu and brought us nothing but Zhang Wu's cellphone. I don't feel like going up to him and say he did a lousy job though I'd pay to watch you do it."

"I still say we should check the candidates", Zuko said firmly, ignoring Azula's remark. "If it does pan out, more people could be in danger."

Finally, the old Admiral made himself known. "I'll handle that."

Most of them gasped, Ty Lee yelped, Azula bristled, Mai was unaffected. "According to the House of Wu, Zhang Wu requested a sick leave several days before he received the email. He could have had prior contact with whoever it was via other means", the Admiral walked to them. "I trust them and when they told me they have nothing else that could be useful, I trust them."

"Your trust is misplaced", Azula could not help herself.

"There is a chance of that", Jeong Jeong inclined his head. "I'll handle them as well. Zuko?"

"Yes, sir", Zuko replied.

"Organize a stakeout on Zu Bai", Jeong Jeong ordered. "Jee."

Jee nodded.

"Fire Koi", Jeong Jeong stroked his goatee. "I don't like this. You are right; Zu Bai is not in the clear. If anything, we should find enough dirt on him to bring him in for interrogation."

"What about the rest of us?" Azula asked curtly.

"Mai, double-check the van; there might be a clue we missed", Jeong Jeong directed. "Azula, try tracking the email and text sender—"

"It's a dead address and a burn phone. We've been over this; they're dead ends", Azula interjected curtly. "And before you asked, we have double-checked Zhang Wu's phone and email; they're clean. Are you trying to keep me off the action?"

The corner of Jeong Jeong's scarred eye twitched while the others looked at him wearily from the corner of their eyes; Chit Sang shrunk a bit under the intense atmosphere. "Triple-check", the Admiral said. "And try to find out more about this Narau Hai—"

"Nhai", Jee muttered.

"Nai—"

"N_h_ai", Jee said again. "It's a bit nasal. You have to— _sorry, sir_", he gulped under the old man's glare.

"Find out more about this character", the Admiral ignored him. "Find out why no one has ever seen him in person. And, while you're at it, find out more about Fire Koi."

"Aww…" Ty Lee started.

"It is unfortunate, yes", Jeong Jeong kept his face straight at Ty Lee's pout. "But, for all we know, Fire Koi could be a front for some criminal activities."

Azula's jaw hardened. Jeong Jeong was a tough opponent. Of the team, Azula was the best hacker and computer expert; Jee worked wonder on the field paired with Chit Sang with their combined streetwise, Mai was their lab expert with advanced degrees in Biochemistry and Forensic Science, Zuko was not a team player and often worked alone, and Ty Lee, as Azula had once put it, was akin to a team mascot.

Azula did not appreciate being caged in the office; she had an inkling suspicion that her father had given Jeong Jeong some very specific directives. However, Jeong Jeong was also right; if Narau Nhai was hidden somewhere in the system, finding him would answer many questions and Azula was the best chance they had.

She did not have to like it though.

Half an hour passed and the headquarters was now empty; only Azula and Ty Lee. The Princess was watching her program running lines of numbers and characters all too fast for human eyes to keep track of; hackers and programmers like her still somehow managed though, but only Agni knows how. Ty Lee mumbled something about training and stalked off, leaving her alone. Not a minute passed, a pair of arms embraced the Princess from behind. Azula could feel the gun poking her on her back.

Lin had once told her a story of how a sergeant in his father's battalion taught him to keep his sidearm that way; on the front waist, near his belly, with the gun barrel pointing diagonally down or horizontal. It allowed the gun to be drawn like a knife or dagger, and, should the need for a quick draw arise, he could fire from the hip. An ideal holstering position for a close-quarter quick draw.

"I brought you something", Lin sang, placing on the tabletop a small box wrapped neatly with a plain glossy red paper.

"Where's the catch?" Azula asked dryly, ignoring her curiosity.

"What catch?" Lin laughed. "Can't I give you anything…" he gently turned the girl to face him. "…without hoping for something in return? Because, you know, I can do that. I _do_ do that. Do… do… did… do… _urgh_!"

"Uh-huh?" Azula still looked skeptical as she linked her arms around his neck.

"But, since you insist", Lin grinned guiltily. "I'm going to the Earth Kingdom in four days."

"I see", Azula simply said coldly. She turned back to the computer, tapped several keys to send her program on automatic mode, and simply walked away to the couch.

"Azula, come on", Lin sighed, following her to the couch with the gift.

"I don't want it", Azula said quietly, refusing to look at him. "You know I hate it when people leave."

"I know", Lin sat by her side and pecked her temple; she hit him for it before wiping the spot with her sleeve. "You know that I really have to go, right? That I wouldn't go if I could stay?"

"That's the thing", Azula growled. "I know. I understand. I don't have to like it though."

Lin simply smiled as he pulled her into his arms.

"Why are you really here?" Azula asked after a while.

"Off the record", he let the girl slid down to his lap and rested her head there. "My grandfather called me to keep you here. He has an inkling suspicion that you would sneak out and cause some trouble out there."

Azula snorted bitterly.

"Your dad must love you very much", Lin commented with an obviously intentional jovial tone; Azula let this slide on the ground that she liked having her head stroked the way it was now.

"He let Zuko go", Azula replied sharply but Lin, knowing her the way he did, sensed a tinge of envy and even bitterness in her tone. "Dooooon't…" Azula drawled pointedly, sensing a _'Zuko's a boy and older and technically an adult'_ lecture coming. "I'm better than him in anything. He should be the one confined in the headquarters doing rear support."

"Maybe that's exactly why you're here and he's out there", Lin shrugged, playing with one of Azula's bangs. "Any properly trained law enforcer can do stakeout or investigation or arresting people. It takes a special kind of genius, people like you, to do this computer thingy."

Azula looked up with a flat expression. "Only you can compliment me by arguing with me and _winning_."

"Well, I'm a special kind of genius too", he said none too humbly.

Azula simply smirked, got up, and kissed him on the lips; Lin grunted but did not resist much. He hated being kissed by Azula when she was wearing her lipstick and she knew it. Giggling mischievously, the Princess wiped her lips clean with a handkerchief she produced from her sleeve pocket and began kissing him again.

"Yeah –mmmphh- Azul –mmphh-, _wow_ –mmpph-hhh- you—", he pushed her away reluctantly by the shoulders; she was smirking wide and that was never entirely good. "You're running a silent search on the computer on things you shouldn't, aren't you?"

"Well", Azula draped herself on Lin, pushing him down to the couch. "I'm running a search for a list of death in the past few months."

"Uh-huh?" Lin smirked back as Azula put her chin on his chest.

"How do you know what I was doing?" Azula asked.

"I know you", Lin said, tapping her forehead lightly. "Why?"

"I'm curious", Azula sat up. She stretched and got up from the couch. "About Zhang Wu."

"Let's see", Lin too got up and let himself be dragged to the tabletop by the girl. "Unnatural deaths—"

"They're not exactly neat. Yes", Azula, being framed between the table top and Lin by the latter's arms, shrugged.

"Military training?"

"And experience with law enforcing", Azula added. "And martial art training."

"And age group below fifty", Lin read the last parameter. "You didn't put gender specification?"

Azula narrowed her eyes as she turned to him and glared sharply.

"What?" Lin asked innocently. "It's only logical. Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe are not as open-minded as us Fire Nation. If this is to be a group of interplanetary demography, we might want to keep baby steps on feminism."

"I'm not putting it in", Azula said stubbornly as she turned back to the computer.

"Fine. It's your search", Lin shrugged. Snickering at the lack of response, he hugged her by the waist again and buried her face on the back of her head.

"Stop it. You know I like it when you do that", Azula smirked; a brief burst of breath on the back of her head in her hair she registered as his chuckle. "I'm working."

"You kissed me on the couch", said the head that was now on her shoulder, kissing her jaw. "What if my grandfather saw us?"

"He doesn't know yet?" Azula snorted. "That's odd. I thought you two were close."

"He knew that we've been friends for years", Lin swayed a little with Azula held snuggly in his arms. "I think he's under the impression that we have something of a pseudo-sibling bond going on."

"Eww", Azula smirked. When they heard the shuffling of footsteps coming from the door below the balcony, they separated from each other. Azula had just finished tapping her hair back to place and Lin straightening his garb when the Admiral showed up through the door. "I've widened the search for the name Narau _Nhai_", petty was the way she perfectly pronounced the last name. "I've put in every imaginable parameter; the search is slow and still ongoing, and I am very pessimistic about it", Azula droned on. "The email and texts are still dead. Fire Koi is as clean as they come. How's your end?" very casually delivered her question was.

Jeong Jeong was actually quite fond of this girl. He came from a long line of firebenders and he respected anyone who stayed true to the art in this era of guns and machines where killing a master firebender was as easy as pulling a trigger or flooring a gas pedal. None had realized it because he was subtle but he did show favoritism towards Azula.

When the team was initially formed, Jeong Jeong, in the spirit of getting better feel of his team members' individual skills and characters, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, had Azula conducted onsite investigation and witness questioning several times; so far, Azula had desecrated a Fire Temple, offended a peaceful anti-violence rally, and insulted three different noble houses. And not to mention the paperwork, the bad publicity, and the lawsuits Jeong Jeong had to power through. Through it all, Azula had received nothing worse than a stern scolding while Jeong Jeong stuck his neck out to shield her from the repercussion of her action on multiple occasions; one nearly landed him in prison and at least four ended up in Agni Kai.

To him, Azula was a very capable, exceptionally gifted, and freakishly intelligent young woman -emphasis on the word _young_- who, under the right guidance, would be an invaluable asset to the police department and a formidable champion of justice. It would be tragic if someone with her potential got buried by the intricate societal rules she had not truly grasp yet because, despite her sharp intellect, Jeong Jeong knew that Azula had the social skills and tact of a blunt axe to the side of the head.

Sometimes, even Jeong Jeong found himself seeing her as nothing but an impertinent brat.

"I have checked several names on the database", he brought up his tablet. "The result is—"

"Zheng Lu", Azula asked, bringing up the current result of her still incomplete search. "Retired Army sniper? Killed in a speeder-car accident?"

"…Yes", Jeong Jeong said through his clenched jaw.

"Mazu", Azula brought up another profile. "Firebending master? Supposedly killed in an unsanctioned Agni Kai?"

"No, he's not on th—"

"Yuzang? Security guard for the House of Zhu? Killed in a home invasion?"

"Yes, actually—"

"Mimi Liang? From the House of Liang? Found dead in her room without any signs of violence? Still an ongoing case?"

"She's a woman. What makes you think—"

"Chauvinist", Azula muttered with little effort to lower her voice. "Li Mang. A master spearman—"

"Enough!" Jeong Jeong snapped. "I have told you that I would be the one—"

"Did I neglect my job?" Azula interjected, trying to keep her face straight despite a smirk of the triumphant kind trying to sneak into being. "I have time to kill. So, why not? _'Curiosity is the main weapon in your arsenal'_", she turned her expression and tone sad; she surprised herself at how effortless it was. "You taught us this. Remember?"

Jeong Jeong, wise as he was, decided not to respond according to the tug of guilt in the pit of his gut; he would rather not appear weak in front of his grandson. Lin, Jeong Jeong noticed, was chewing his lips; he was trying to hold back laughter and it gave Jeong Jeong the conviction to withhold the benefit of the doubt on Azula this time and opted to think that she was playing him. Azula was not beyond this, he knew.

"I have several more names", Jeong Jeong said. He put his tablet on one of the slots on the tabletop. The whole device consisted of a flat surface of screen capable of projecting interactive and non-interactive holographic projection framed by dark metal rim about one and a half foot wide bearing slots where people could insert their tablets or cellphones and several set buttons and keyboards for manual operation by four different users, two on each sides. The contraption read the content of Jeong Jeong's tablet and brought forth around twenty pictures of men of different nationalities, according to the color of the backdrop of their portrait. Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribe; no Air Nomads but it was not surprising.

Most of the faces were crossed; included in them were Zhang Wu, the victim of their case, Zheng Lu, Yuzhang, Li Mang, and three other from Azula's search result. Some of the portraits with Earth Kingdom green background were also crossed. Interestingly, no Water Tribe pictures were crossed and, Azula noticed with a slight miff, there were no women among them.

"We have alerted the rest", Jeong Jeong replied their unasked questions. "They have been taken into protective custody. And, yes, I noticed", Jeong Jeong said before Azula could open her mouth halfway. "It is not strange. If the assassins are really Earth Kingdom, they will be powerless in Water Tribe soil. Both Northern and Southern Water Tribe Planets are ice planets and they won't have bendable there."

"Guns?" Lin frowned.

"Water Tribe borders are closely guarded", Jeong Jeong said. "It is near impossible to smuggle anything into either Water Tribes."

"Huh…" Lin's insightful amber eyes darted up, pondering this new information. "Good to know. Excuse me, I have to make some phone calls."

"You have been particularly rebellious as of late", Jeong Jeong commented dryly as Lin was out of earshot.

"I'm just bored", Azula replied defiantly. "What now? I still think this Narau _Nhai_…" again with the annoyingly impeccable pronunciation of the name. "…is a waste of time. Even if by some odd chance we get a hit—"

_Beep Beep…_

"Huh? We got a hit. How odd", Azula typed into the tabletop. What appeared was a family tree of the Fire Nation kind; Azula surmised it was a scan of a piece of carpet on which tiny masculine two-pronged flames and feminine one-pronged flames were embroidered above the names they represented. Narau Nhai's name was highlighted and the year of birth and death of the two-pronged flame suggested that he had been alive during the reign of Fire Lord Hirue, millennia ago when people still rode komodo-rhino-drawn carts and hunted things with flaming spears. Several other names were also highlighted far below Narau Nhai's name.

Familiar names: Zu Bai, Zi, several Li's who could be anyone, Li Mang the deceased master spearman, Zhang Wu, and, curiously, Chit Sang.

Jeong Jeong, once he overcame his intrigue, inhaled sharply to quell his irk. Turning to Azula, he commented. "_Every_ imaginable parameter, you say?"

"'_Leave nothing to chance'_", Azula quoted him again. "So Chit Sang is related to the family. What's the big deal? Look, at least we've also learnt that Zu Bai and his army buddy Zi are first cousins and Zhang Wu was apparently their uncle-in-law."

"Zu Bai's name came up a lot", Jeong Jeong commented, studying the family tree. "They must know each other", the Admiral traced the line connecting the three names. "Zhang Wu was married to Zu Bai's aunt."

"Got it", Azula typed several keys with lightning speed dexterity. "Marah, no last name, an army nurse stationed at the Fire Nation Colonial Force – Earth Kingdom Colonies. Must be how they met."

"See if you can find pictures or anything, anything visual", Jeong Jeong ordered. "If we can prove Zu Bai's involvement with Zhang Wu, we can get him for falsifying statement; he had claimed to have no knowledge of Zhang Wu."

"As we have covered before, Zu Bai has the mentality of a conspiracy theorist", Azula said flatly. "No bank account, no electronic trace, cash only business. I think it'd be easier to just drag him in. After all…" Azula waved a hand at the family tree. "…we already have enough to bring him in for obstructing an active investigation."

Jeong Jeong seemed to ponder upon this.

"Mai and the lab?" he asked.

"She found nothing new", Azula inclined her head a little; Jeong Jeong was reminded to a hyena-wolf before it lunged on a prey.

"Fine", he said suddenly. "I'll call Zuko. You—", he added quickly as Azula was about to dart away to her office. "—stay here. Keep working on this end."

"My brother is alone against what could be a traitor collaborating with a group of Earth Kingdom assassins", Azula growled dangerously. "Do you expect me to sit back and relax while he's out there apprehending dangerous criminals alone?"

"No, I expect you to trust me on this", Jeong Jeong, of course, knew that Azula was just saying it; she was not averse to dunking her brother in a pond filled with man-eating piranha-eels and she would do it with no remorse. "I need you here."

"Who's going to support Zuko?" Azula demanded heatedly, grasping her hands into tight fists.

"I'm on it", Lin appeared as if on cue. "I've sent some of my people to Zuko."

Jeong Jeong and Azula turned to him and had a similar look on their faces; the kind of look police officers give to anyone who confessed they just peed on a police car.

"What?" Lin went on the defensive. "I instructed them to stay out of sight. You'd rather leave Zuko to fend for himself?"

They had comeback for this, of course.

"I'll go, too", Lin added before bowing to the Admiral and walked to the elevator.

* * *

Jee drank his coffee from his styrofoam cup simply to wash down the aftertaste of chocolate in his mouth. Chit Sang, sitting on the passenger seat, still ate his fill and more.

"This place makes good chocolate", Chit Sang commented with mouth full of chocolate cheesecake. "I really hope nothing happens here."

Jee did not say anything but he found himself silently agreeing with Chit Sang. He cared little for chocolate but even Jee found Fire Koi's chocolate-based products to be quite palatable. Jee's concentration on Chit Sang's noisy chewing was disrupted by a group of suspiciously dressed men entering the shop. Big burly ivory-skinned men, with top-knots that were a little lopsided. Also, Jee seemed to recognize one of the faces.

"Have I ever told you that I was in the Navy?" Jee asked without taking his eyes off the group of men.

"Yeah, you even went to the war", Chit Sang stopped his munching. "Why?"

"I was wounded once", Jee said, eyes never leaving the front glass window through which they saw the group of four men talking to another person wearing an outfit of a chef. "An ambush by Earth Kingdom Army. I was in a tank, it got hit by an anti-armor canon, and I was blown away over a cliff to the ocean. I was found by a group of pirates who fished me up, tended my wound, and sold me to slavery."

"That's rough", Chit Sang commented, following the direction of Jee's stare.

"Anyway, they're Earth Kingdom for sure", Jee sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. "The way they try to blend in does seem suspicious. Bust them?"

Chit Sang merely shrugged. They checked their guns on their belts and pulled their summer coats tighter to hide their weapons. They got out and Jee led the way into the store. The pair of plain-clothed policemen walked up to the counter now led by Chit Sang. Jee noticed the door with the small thin strip of paper bearing _'Authorized Personnel Only'_ on the corner right beside where the four men and the chef were sitting. _They are professional_, he thought, already preparing himself mentally for the fight that he knew would break out.

"Hey, look", Jee said, pointing at the row of large cakes behind the glass on the counter. "Puppy shaped cakes. Ty Lee would love that, don't you agree? Isn't her birthday coming next week?"

"Yeah, good idea", Chit Sang nodded. "Excuse me, miss. How much is that puppy cake?"

"Oh", the cashier glanced briefly at the cake. "Excellent choice, sir", the young freckled girl wearing a ridiculous koi head hat smiled professionally. "It is a popular choice. For a girlfriend?"

"My daughter", Chit Sang grinned. "Turning fourteen next week."

"Oh, wonderful!"

"Does it come in pink?"

"Hmm, our pink strawberry cream stock is currently empty. But, if you leave me your contact detail, we can give you a call when one is available. And, for only ten silver pieces, we can have it delivered to your home if you live within ten kilometers radius from here; we charged extra five copper pieces for every additional kilometer."

Chit Sang noticed the employee of the month portrait on the wall behind the counter bearing the cashier's face and thought it was appropriate.

"Good idea", Chit Sang made a move to his belt. "There is something else I need from you", he put his badge subtly on the counter. "That man over there, sitting with four other men in black. Who is he?"

"Oh", the girl looked more perplexed than afraid. "Chef Li? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

Jee never truly took his eyes off the men in the corner. As luck would have it, one of the men who had their backs turned on the pair policemen turned around; green orbs met amber.

The greens on both sides of the diagonal scar remembered the last time they saw those ambers; they were standing outside a cage that held those ambers.

It was a snap chaotic consequence. Jee's yelling, "Police!" drowned whatever it was the green-eyed man's rough voice was yelling. They soon found themselves running across the kitchen, making people scream. One of the five men threw a large bowl of chocolate frosting; Jee and Chit Sang dodged successfully but a lady baker behind them suffered a gooey but delicious splat on her face. The thrower stayed behind while the three other men in black and the chef bolted away through the exit. The man kept throwing more stuff; from harmless dough and sticks of butter, he graduated to sharp and not harmless knives and cleavers.

Roaring, Chit Sang charged like a mad bullizard and tackled the men down by the midsection; Jee ran ahead after the rest of the group. On the alleyway outside the door, Jee found them running away into a parked van. Shouting a mighty battle cry, the former Navy lieutenant jumped and spin-kicked a fire arc that hit one of the black-clothed man on the back. He fell and the other three halted and turned around to Jee who wasted no time to send barrage of firebending that took down one more of them.

When the remaining two, the chef and the scarred green-eyed man, switched to offensive, lunging towards Jee with knives ready in their hands, Jee pulled his gun and began firing away bolts of red plasma. The scarred owner of the green eyes was hit on the shoulder and stomach, just like Jee had been years ago after he had busted through the cage that held him like an animal.

The satisfaction the poetic justice brought to Jee was cut short by the chef who stomped mightily on the ground, causing a mini tremor that had been the subject of many soldiers', including Jee's, nightmare. Jee's widened eyes was followed by his gaping mouth when a pillar of earth shot out from the ground and flew to his direction.

* * *

To Azula, Jeong Jeong was… well, an old man. Azula dealt with old men nearly all her life. Her grandfather Azulon was ancient, her uncle Iroh was old enough to be her grandpa Iroh, and her father was a mid-forty man who no longer had the thirty something look. Jeong Jeong was a few years younger than her Uncle Iroh, Azula knew; she had checked Jeong Jeong's personal file once.

To Azula, Jeong Jeong possessed the calm head of a sage who had lived a thousand lifetimes and, strangely, the temper of a giant dragon with a bad case of toothache. The Admiral was cool, calm, and collected most of the time; cold sometimes; and, though Azula had never said it out loud before, nurturing. In the old man, Azula found a grandfather figure and a mentor.

Jeong Jeong demanded the respect that he had earned and Azula, though she would never admit it, did respect the Admiral.

Still, she disliked being called to the Admiral's office for a cup of tea. Sitting a neat seiza on one of the cushions, Azula waited patiently as the old man poured her a cup of steaming hot brown liquid with perfect and highly refined and disciplined movement that even she, in this state of silent agitation, found admirable. Azula gives credit where credit is due.

She waited a little bit more for the old man to fill his own cup. Jeong Jeong put down the simple clay teapot on a small stool he put on the floor by his side. He then gestured to the cups and reached for his own first. Azula politely took a sip after Jeong Jeong and she reaffirmed her eternal enmity towards tea.

Jeong Jeong exhaled slowly as he swallowed his first sip, went to have a second, and put his cup down gently. Azula put her cup down too and found the Admiral's piercing amber studying her face. She had not time to feel crept out as Jeong Jeong broke the eye contact after exactly five seconds.

Taking the cup, Jeong Jeong commented with his usual flat tone. "You are not wearing your lipstick. It's unusual."

"Oh?" Azula arched a brow, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "I didn't know you noticed this kind of thing."

"I am the operational manager of this team, it's my job to notice anything unusual", Jeong Jeong took another long sip of his cup which Azula suspected was his way of giving Azula some time to think. "So", the Admiral said as Azula came up empty. "What are your thoughts of this case?"

"I think you're keeping me off the field for a reason. Have you been talking to my father? A direct order from the Prime Minister, perhaps?" Azula said with that sweet but condescending lilt that only she could use.

"I have been given an order to keep you and Prince Zuko safe, yes", Jeong Jeong said matter-of-factly, mentally lamenting the fact that the girl he was having tea with was such a brat. "But, never think for one second that I put his order above your and Zuko's wellbeing and growth as law enforcers."

"My, Admiral", Azula faked a gasp. "That's _almost_ treason you are speaking of."

Jeong Jeong smirked and stared into the girl's amber sharply, and, for some unfathomable reason, proudly. "Not when it concerns family."

Azula looked down to her cup, feeling a tiny tug of guilt.

"I don't like it here", Azula said quietly; avoidance… the closest Princess Azula could get to apologies. "It almost feels like I'm being called to the principal's office or something. For screwing up."

"You did not screw up", Jeong Jeong said with a fierceness in his tone, the kind he had when he was defending someone; the closest he could imitate a fatherly tone. "As the matter of fact, I think your work result has been exemplary during this case. You found out about Zhang Wu and his connection with the interplanetary law enforcer team, you discovered Narau Nai…" Azula ignored the mispronunciation. "… when the odd was against us—"

The main phone connected to the tabletop computer rang; according to the caller id on the giant holographic display, it was Jee.

"Keep going", Azula smirked, back to her usual self.

"Get the phone", Jeong Jeong ordered flatly, sipping his cup.

Azula got up and, reluctantly, she stopped and, sincerely, she bowed before she strode to the tabletop computer. She pressed the accept call button and a miniature hologram Jee appeared on the display; he looked a bit messy with gooey stuff dripping off his short hair and a terrible bruise on one side of the face.

"Lieutenant", Jee greeted, holding his phone on front of him; Azula could see her own miniature holographic self standing on the device. "We arrested several Earth Kingdom people; five, males. Four of them are here illegally, one of them is registered as a Fire Nation and works as a chef here at Fire Koi."

"Spies?" Azula asked.

"No, Lieutenant", Jee scratched his head. "Smugglers."

"Including the chef?" Azula frowned.

"Apparently", Jee nodded. "It's an international smuggling ring. They have people from everywhere and the resources to forge documents."

"Do they have any connection to Zu Bai?" Azula asked urgently. "Is Zu Bai in on it?"

"I don't think so", Jee sighed; Chit Sang appeared and tried to look over his shoulder. Jee turned around and shooed him away. "This seems like a separate thing. They must have used Zu Bai's shipment to smuggle themselves in here but, get this", Jee sounded grim as he continued. "They don't have any firearms with them. I don't think they are responsible for Zhang Wu at all."

Azula sighed as she came to a realization. "Zu Bai played us."

* * *

Zuko winced as the boulder fell so close to his skulking place. He stood up over the top of his car to fire several quick shots from his gun at the warehouse through the rain of green and red plasma bolts, fire blast, hurling ice spikes, and flying boulders. Lin and a woman of mid twenty were reloading their weapons.

Lin had just popped his last magazine in place to his handgun when Zuko ducked back to cover while the woman on the other side of the car emerged and sprayed plasma shots from her submachine gun.

"Where's your reinforcement?" Lin asked. Zuko was too high on adrenaline rush to notice how strangely calm he sounded.

"Still on their way, apparently", the Prince skulked lower as he pulled the front door of his battered and shot up car open and tried to reach for the radio; several wild shots of plasma penetrated through the other side of the car, showering Zuko with tiny pieces of shattered glass and instilled in him a will to life as he flinched back and fell down back first to the pavement. Lin, who was the closest to Zuko, quickly pulled him back into cover; a large boulder fell on the spot where Zuko's head had been lying a second ago.

"You police are so useless!" Lin cursed. "No wonder a lot of people want to be criminals!"

Zuko was about to bark an equally insulting comeback but Lin stood up and fired at the warehouse that was now swarmed with numerous people defending the premises. Some of them were wearing rags and had the outer appearance of regular dockworkers; only half of them were armed while the rest were utilizing their bending of fire, water, and earth to keep the three intruders at bay. At least twenty well-dressed men were also on their ranks and they were all packing heat.

"Bara!" Lin ducked just as a green bolt flew past him. "Call Taka in!"

"No!" Zuko shouted over the commotion. "What if the uniform comes?!"

What little luck he was born with was on Zuko's side; they could hear sirens roaring from afar and they were coming closer. In matter of seconds, several speeder-cars and-vans emerged from the corner of the road, speeding towards them. Still skulking with Lin and Bara, Zuko pulled up his badge and flashed it up as safely as he could. The incoming police vehicles flew pass their position and formed a protective line of plasma and firebending resistant wall; earthbending did a number on them already.

"Captain Kai, sir!" an armored police officer bearing a submachine gun came skidding to their cover. "Sergeant Lee. We received your call for assistance, sir!"

"Nice timing", Lin quipped. Even after knowing him for years, Zuko still had problem detecting sarcasm in his tone.

"Who are you?" Sergeant Lee frowned apprehensively; Zuko noticed the officer's finger curling subtly around his gun trigger. The protocol for this kind of situation was for fellow law enforcers to show their badge or id as identification and Lin and Bara, of course, had none to show.

"Watch your tongue, knave!" Bara, the mid twenty woman, snapped. "Is this how you treat undercover Royal Procession agents?!"

"O-oh, sorry, ma'am", Sergeant Lee gulped as he saluted a little, making Fire Nation hand gesture without bowing.

"The owner of this warehouse is suspected for terrorism", Lin said in an authoritative tone. "We happen to run into the good lieutenant here."

_Bzzt bzzt…_

"Oh, come on!" Lin screamed but he reached for his cellphone in his pocket anyway. "This is not a good time."

"_Is Zuko with you?"_ Azula asked from the other end. _"We have satellite view of your position; that guy with a piece of glass sticking out on his shoulder looks like Zuko from up here."_

"Zuko, you have a piece of glass sticking out your shoulder", Lin announced as he put the phone on speaker. "Is there any way around this warehouse? We can't get through the front."

"_Yes, the east and west sides are empty. And you better hurry"_, Azula said; Lin could hear her typing over the line. _"I see some people running out. I think one of them is Zu Bai. Whoa, he's huge. Even from this far away."_

"Hear that?" Lin, hanging up, said to Zuko who was already ordering the policemen around to encircle the warehouse from both sides and ordering Sergeant Lee to take charge and secure the warehouse with his men.

"Come on!" Lin called and led Zuko and Bara to his motorcycle parked behind a security guard's hut. He jumped on and, before he could even reach for the ignition, he felt a bump on his back followed by a second and milder one. Turning around to Bara and Zuko sitting behind him, neither looked any more comfortable than he was, he hissed sharply. "No words to anyone."

Bara and Zuko murmured their agreement.

Lin started the vehicle and sped away around the warehouse, dodging shots of plasma and elements; Zuko, sitting at the tail, enjoyed quite a thrilling ride as the law physics dragged himself back, wanting to slam him to the ground. They flew to the right side of the warehouse, took a wide left, and, noticed a group of armed well-dressed men and a fat man running on foot.

Lin accelerated through them, cutting their route, dodging shots of guns and firebending and earthbending; Zuko leaped off the moment they flew pass them and sent a barrage of fire blast before his feet touched the ground. The Prince's unexpected attack caused the opponents to go on a brief defensive and let up on their attack, allowing Bara to leap down also and joined Zuko in the assault while Lin skidded to stop a few meters ahead.

Lin got down and ran towards the fight; switching his gun to his left hand, his now free right hand reached to his right waist and pulled out a tube-like device, colored dark like the rest of his outfit and equipment. He flicked his wrist and a 70-centimeter of straight slender jian blade slid down from the device. He raised his gun and fired two shots that incapacitated a firebender who was about to blast Zuko in the back.

Zuko turned around briefly before he had to leap away lest a boulder crushed him. He shot many quick bolts from his gun that the earthbender defended against by raising an earth wall; when the earth wall came flying his way, he dashed ahead and leaped over it, sending a fire kick on his way down. The earthbender instinctively raised his arms to shield himself and Zuko shot him on the gut with his gun.

A roar from his side snapped his attention and a firebender was going through some intricate hand movements to mold his element. Zuko aimed his gun and fired but he was out of ammo; he had not time to channel his firebending.

Suddenly, the firebender jerked and his molded flame dropped to the floor and splashed like a ball of water before disappearing. As he fell down to his knee, Zuko saw Bara standing behind the fallen opponent with her gun raised, grinning. A fire blast drew her back to another fight though.

A boulder flew to the spot between them and, soon after, a well-dressed baddie Zuko guessed was the owner of the boulder. Lin leaped into the picture next, light and graceful like a saber-tooth-tiger-wolf –or a piece of floating tissue, as Zuko had once commented-.

The mercenary grinned briefly at Zuko and it gave Zuko the chill. The older boy had that look in his eyes when he was fighting, the look that gave Zuko the mental image of the gleam of a blade. Lin twirled midair and sent a fire arc with a kick on his way down, hitting one of the last two opponents who were attacking Bara. Twirling his blade and slashing the air once, he splashed a long but thin splatter of blood on the pavement.

As Bara took down the last of their opponents, they looked around for Zu Bai; the double-chinned morbidly obese man had used the ensuing fight to get away, running at a rather respectable speed to the pier ahead. The three of them were about to give chase when a single Earth Kingdom green plasma bolt sailed through the air from the direction of the warehouse; several other well-dressed warehouse guards appeared and began shooting at them.

"Go", Bara shouted as they ducked for cover behind nearby crates. "I'll cover you two and hold them here."

Without giving the two boys a chance to argue, or show chivalry, Bara jumped over the crate and began running towards the incoming enemies and firing back with her submachine gun, dispersing the group and pushing them on the defensive. Lin and Zuko used the opportunity to run ahead after Zu Bai. The shipping company owner had gained quite a distance and the two younger boys, though they were more physically fit, had the escapee giving them the run for their money. Literally.

When Zuko was finally able to ram into Zu Bai, the latter had brought them through several turns and they found themselves in the middle of gigantic shipping containers away from the riot in the warehouse; they could not even hear the sound of the gunfight and clashes of the elements anymore. Also, on the more personal note, Zuko's knees were burning and he had stitches on his side and Lin was starting to see black spots as he gasped for air.

Zu Bai's massive fist crashing Zuko's jaw and sending him to the ground was quite an insult to their pride. Ignoring his protesting limbic and respiratory system, Lin dashed forward for his signature quick sword slash; Zu Bai stood his ground and caught him by his sword-wielding wrist and his neck. Almost effortlessly, the obese man picked up the black clad teenager and slammed him back first onto the nearby steel container. Lin had his wind knocked off and his weapons, sword and handgun, slipped out of his grasp.

He delivered a desperate flaming kick that hit Zu Bai on the chest and burnt the fabric of his clothes. Zu Bai dropped him and took a few steps back, patting his burnt clothes. Lin fell to his knees and coughed breathlessly. His instinct told him to stand up and just beat the burning crap out of Zu Bai but his body somehow moved to the nearby weapon; his sword. Zu Bai's foot kicking the sword away put an end to that endeavor.

Lin had barely moved a muscle when he found himself being lifted up by the back of his clothes and he sailed through the air as Zu Bai hurled him onto another container on the other side of the seven or eight meters gap like a bouncer would a drunkard. The collision produced a rather spectacular hollow metallic thunk.

Groaning, Lin rolled to his back despite his aching existence, just in time to see Zuko's flaming fist got caught by Zu Bai who delivered a plain punch to his gut; Zuko doubled over and received the same treatment as he was being hurled to the same container and crash-landed near Lin.

"Are you kidding me?!" Lin hissed to the grunting and badly bruised Zuko. "We got owned by a fat guy!"

"You –_urgh_…- need to get reacquainted with my uncle", Zuko dragged himself up to his feet; Lin, adhering to his sneakier fighting style, got up to one knee.

I think this is the point where readers would be kindly reminded that Zu Bai used to be a soldier and fought in the war before.

"Yeah, but look", Lin struggled to regulate his breath. "He looked like the guy who just ate your uncle."

"Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing. Don't tell Azula", Zuko said as they both lunged at Zu Bai together.

Zu Bai lunged ahead towards the two boys and sent them crashing down with a double lariat.

"Urgh… do you think Azula is watching us getting beaten up?" Lin groaned on the ground next to Zuko. Zu Bai made a run for it.

"With a war going on out there?" Zuko clambered up to his feet, aching like he never had before. "I doubt it."

* * *

"Ugh!" Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee grunted as Zu Bai ran over Zuko and Lin with the double lariat; the bird's eye view from the far away satellite might be small, distant, and lacking in detail but the effect was felt.

"They're gonna eat meat through the straw for a week", Mai muttered.

"I'm gonna go get some bags of frozen peas", Ty Lee stalked off, shivering from watching the violence.

* * *

Zuko staggered up and began his chase. When he realized that Lin had sat up but not made any further move, he shouted at him. "Come on! We've got to catch him!"

"No, man! I don't wanna do this anymore", Lin whined like a kid. "Can I just shoot him?"

"You have a gun?" Zuko barked.

"Of course, I do", Lin pulled from his ankle holster a tiny revolver. "I always have a backup."

"Well, shoot him!"

"Fine!"

Lin raised his arm and fired a shot quickly without even looking at Zu Bai or taking his frown off Zuko. "There, happy!"

"Holy fu— _did you kill him?_" Zuko screamed as Zu Bai fell face first to the pavement.

"No, I did not!" Lin barked back as he clambered up to his feet. "I shot him in the leg!"

"You shot him in the _spine_!" Zuko screamed back.

"Oh… crapster in heaven, I _killed_ him", Lin quickly raced after Zuko to the fallen criminal.

Zuko was the first to arrive and, kneeling down, he checked on Zu Bai; the large man groaned weakly at Zuko's touch.

"Oh, thank spirits, he's alive", Zuko sighed.

"Phew, that was close", Lin laughed weakly; Zuko's glare shut him up.

"Give me that!" Zuko snatched the tiny gun. "And get out of here."

"Okay", Lin pulled up his hood, but not before dropping a single nightshade flower on the ground. "See you at the usual place."

While the mercenary raced back to his bike, Zuko rolled Zu Bai to his back.

"Who are you working for?!" he demanded, pulling the large man up by the collar. "Tell me!"

Zu Bai gasped and coughed; or at least Zuko thought he was coughing. Zu Bai was laughing.

"You're too late…" he heaved before passing out.

* * *

"Ty Lee", Azula growled. "Would you stop pacing?"

"But… but…" the pink girl whimpered, not stopping at all.

On the long couch in the headquarter were Jeong Jeong framed on the right and left by Mai, who was slouching lazily, twirling a knife, and Azula, who was also slouching, cross-legged, playing with her phone. On the small couches were Chit Sang and Jee; Jee was pressing a bag of frozen pea on the side of his face.

"Earthbenders running rampant on our soil", Jeong Jeong muttered, drawing everyone's attention; he might have lost his temper a lot but he had never sounded so bitter before. "Our national security is supposed to be the most impregnable!"

"Nothing's impregnable", Azula pointed out. "Impregnable only means that you haven't hit hard enough."

Jeong Jeong turned to her and frowned. "That… is a very Earth Kingdom way of thinking."

Azula turned to Admiral and returned his frown with a scowl.

To safe the headquarters from the incoming Agni Kai, the elevator door slid open. Zuko and Lin walked in, both looked like they had just been jumped by a group of earth rumbler. Squealing happily, Ty Lee ran up to them and scooped the two taller boys into one of her tight hugs, making the boys groaned in pain.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" she hugged tighter.

"Ty Lee, let go please", Azula said; Mai added. "Lin is turning purple."

A few minutes later, the welcoming was relocated to the cafeteria. Being served dinner by the office maid robots, Jeong Jeong looked as sour as he could be, despite the cheery recounting of the action the boys had had and the celebration of their victory of busting not only one, but two cases, and his favorite jasmine tea steaming up his nose.

"Grandpa?" Lin, seated at his right on the round dining table, picked up a piece of spicy tofu with his chopsticks and put it in the old man's rice bowl. "Is something—"

"I don't like this!" the Admiral banged the table with his fist, startling and petrifying everyone; the ensuing silence was broken only by the squishy sound of Chit Sang's meat slipping from his chopsticks and the table jumping a bit from Zuko and Jee, sitting on Chit Sang's right and left, kicking him under the table.

"We got Zu Bai", Azula, sitting at Lin's side, leaned forward a bit and turned to Jeong Jeong. "And we uncovered a smuggling ring. We cracked the case and then some."

"We win with extra", Mai translated. "I see no reason for foul temper."

"Bah! We still don't know about Narau Hai…" everyone but Lin shifted uncomfortably, including Mai. "… and Fire Koi's relation to Zu Bai! We still don't know who Zu Bai's collaborators are, or who sent Zhang Wu the message to meet in the park! And we found out about Zhang Wu and the other candidates being hunted down thanks to information provided by a vigilante!" Jeong Jeong spat.

"_Mercenary_!"

"So, what were we supposed to do?" Mai sighed, ignoring the fuming Lin who was patted on the back by a smirking Azula. "Calling the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe to check if their candidates are being hunted down, too?"

"What a phone call that would be", Azula remarked with dripping sarcasm. "'Why hello, Earth Kingdom savages. What a lovely morning. Say, did your people get whacked in the head by some masked men and were found dead on the street a couple of days after like ours? By the way, I wish you eternal damnation for killing my cousin. Have a nice day'."

"The war might be over", Jee added glumly. "But the hate's still there."

"Do you know that there was a bombing in the colonies last week?" Mai asked the table. "I got the news from a relative living in Gaipan. Earth Kingdom fanatics."

"Which is why I hate this", Jeong Jeong groused. "Zu Bai… he's winning! _They're_ winning! And we don't know who they are!"

"Did he say why he was doing this?" Lin asked Zuko directly.

"No", Zuko said. "He refused to say anything."

"Find anything in his place?" Lin asked again. "What about the earthbenders and waterbenders among his people? Some of them nearly crushed us with giant chunk of rocks."

"They're migrant workers. Zu Bai told them we came to deport them back", Zuko replied bitterly. "They had no choice. They did earthbend and waterbend, though. Bending other elements on Fire Nation soil is a serious offence under Fire Nation Domestic Law."

"I can provide shelter and work, and arrange for their documents if the judge decides to release them", Lin shrugged. "But, not with criminal record. Can you guys do something?"

"It will be difficult", Azula pondered aloud. "They did also assault the police and help Zu Bai."

"Maybe they were forced to do it?" Ty Lee chimed in; under the collective staring she received, she asked very innocently. "What?"

"Can you sell it?" Lin grinned at Jeong Jeong.

"Not without checking them thoroughly, one by one", Jee was the one who answered. "We can't risk anything. Some of them might actually be working for Zu Bai."

"Even if they got through the filter, I have some trusted subordinates among the foreigners in the community", Lin shrugged lightly.

"This isn't over, isn't it?" Mai sighed tiredly; Zuko smiled and put his arm around her waist.

"No", Jeong Jeong said grimly. "Not as long as people like Zu Bai and his ilk stand in the face of peace and unity."

* * *

Azula sat on the passenger seat of her car, hugging her legs under her coat she used as a blanket. It was night and she and Zuko had just dropped Mai off at her family mansion. Zuko usually picked up Mai with his assigned sedan, Azula drove her own, Chit Sang and Jee, who shared a rented house, carpooled with Ty Lee on the office SUV.

Azula did not like people driving her car, especially when she was in it, but Zuko's car had been pretty much obliterated by the combined forces of bullets and three different Elements in the shootout at Zu Bai's warehouse. At Azula's adamancy that she should be the one driving since it was _her_ car, Zuko had said something rather rude about Azula's driving skills, comparing her with a sugar high toddler who had just swallowed a gallon of jet fuel and had just farted in zero gravity, and insisted he would be the one driving.

They spent the drive to their apartment in silence; Azula because she had never enjoyed a conversation with her brother, and, though she had had enough sulking about Zuko driving her car, she was still bitter about being compared with a sugar high toddler who had just swallowed a gallon of jet fuel who had just farted in zero gravity. Zuko did not talk on account of his bruised jaw.

Azula turned to him and scowled a bit; Zuko might or might not notice, Azula could not be sure. Fire Nation cars had the driver's seat on the right side, so Azula had the view of her brother's scarred portion of face. Sighing annoyingly at the lack of response, she broke contact and, just to occupy herself, she pulled out the gift Lin had given her from her coat pocket and unwrapped it. It was a wooden box; she opened it and found lodged in some slots on the crimson padded interior a pair of silver bracelets with a square slot on top; around eight pearl-colored crystals cube was lodged on top of it.

Azula took on of the bracelet, put it on her left wrist, and lodged in a crystal on the slot. She tapped the crystal slot twice and a layer of mucous-like substance oozed out from the rim of the bracelet and covered her entire hand and solidified into a layer of synthetic rubber glove. She scoffed as she took a small piece of paper tugged inside the box.

_Tell me if you're out of crystals. My lab people can make more._

_Love,_

_Lin _

Azula turned off her bracelet; the glove turned into a puff of light smoke. She took it off and put it back on the box. Smiling, she muttered. "Dummy."


	2. Chapter 2 - Bei Fong

**Chapter 2 – Bei Fong**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fingers I'm using.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Wednesday, Month 7, Day 3)_

It should have been easy, just a snatch and run gig. Whoever knows that those Kyoshi Warriors, despite their pride in upholding the legacy of the past, carried guns? It should have been easy indeed. An old woman's purse; snatch and run. Simple standard purse-snatching.

He had gotten the purse alright, the old woman screaming insults had been quite something; she had quite a mouth. Next thing he knew, the famed Kyoshi Warriors had appeared out of nowhere. Five of them had surrounded him from all sides. He had thought his earthbending alone would be enough to fend off their signature metal fans. The all-female elite warriors, sadly, had been packing more than just metal fans. Aside from their wartime katanas and retractable shields, they each carried a handgun.

The info Haru gave him was wrong. Dead wrong!

_Just snatch a purse and run_, Haru said. _It'd be fine_, he said. _They don't have guns_. Psh!

Iron fans swirling and flying towards him –those Kyoshi Warriors used them as some sort of projectile weapons, too-, he could handle with his bending. Green plasma bolts reducing his earth wall to smithereens, now _that_ had got him raising his hands, saying uncle.

They were not like those other traditionalists in the Eastern Earth Kingdom, he admitted. Electricity, lighting, gas, and speeder-cars; those were fine. But, spirits forbid if those easterners used fire arms.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" the Kyoshi Warrior had seemingly materialized out of thin air in front of his cell; a teenager, he thought, judging from her height and build, dressed in the traditional Kyoshi Warrior heavy grass-green silk kimono and light armor, with a line running on the length of her sleeves and a golden circle pattern on each of the gloved armguard and the upper arm of the sleeves. She had short chin-length auburn hair and big violet eyes that made her look both kind and inspiring with her Kyoshi Warrior face paint, and a handgun holstered on her right waist, accompanying a traditional katana tugged on her left waist.

Snorting, the black-haired, rough-looking, bearded, muscular man, bare-chested and barefooted, and wearing but a short shoulder cap, a pair of armbands and shin clothes, shorts and studded belt, stood up and stomped mightily; his bending caused a mini quake that did nothing to help his case since he was caged in a metal cell. "The Boulder is not stupid. As the matter of fact, the Boulder is quite intelligent and holds a bachelor's degree in the Faculty of Modern Literature."

"Modern Lit? Yikes! No wonder you're a pickpocket", the Kyoshi Warrior snickered, turning around and headed to the jail guard table at the corner of the room; the Boulder saw two yellow metal fans folded and tucked on her sash behind her back. Flipping the ledger, the girl put a hand on her chin as she pondered upon what she was reading. "It says here you are guilty for the crime of theft, causing disorder, destruction of public road using earthbending, malicious destruction of cabbages –_really_, cabbages?"

The Boulder shrugged. "The merchant showed resistance when the Boulder asked him to move his cart. His screaming was rather heartbreaking when the Boulder had to remove his cart with his bending."

"Uh-huh", the Kyoshi Warrior shrugged back. "And injuring a citizen who had to be transported to a nearby hospital due to excessive foaming of the mouth."

"The Boulder barely touched that boy when he tripped and had to break his fall by grabbing onto the boy. He foamed all over the Boulder and it was disgusting."

"Oh, rats… I know this guy."

"You do?"

The Kyoshi warrior shivered. "Dated him once."

"The Boulder feels sorry that such a nice young lady has such a peculiar taste in men", the Boulder said earnestly.

"I do, don't I?" the Kyoshi Warrior sighed as her shoulders fell.

"If you like, the Boulder can recommend some of his friends to you", he offered.

"No, thanks", the girls said, snapping the ledger closed. "I don't date criminals."

"The Boulder is not a criminal!" the Boulder shouted.

"Your records beg to differ", the girl pulled from a pouch in her gun belt a cellphone; she tapped several keys and a profile of the Boulder appeared on a small floating holographic display. "Assault and battery, illegal underground bending, involvement in various bar brawls… stealing candies from a five year old girl?"

"The Boulder can explain that last one."

He did not need too, though. The prison door swung open and a teenager walked in. Tall, lean, slightly tanned, with long dark-brown hair tied partially into an Earth Kingdom bun, he was wearing a common looking green outfit of thin cotton, a headband, and he was barefooted. The grin on the Boulder's face upon seeing the boy made the Kyoshi Warrior bristle.

"Suki", the newcomer greeted. "How nice to see you again."

"What does the Resistance want?" Suki, the Kyoshi Warrior, asked bluntly, violet eyes narrowing sharply. "Don't you know the entire island in on high alert?"

"In anticipation for the Bei Fongs, of course", the boy smiled a kind smile that reached his emerald eyes. "As the matter of fact, that's why we're here."

"We, Haru? _We_?!" Suki snapped, turning around completely to the boy and taking a menacing step; her left hand moved to her sword and Haru raised his hands as if trying to calm a beast, grinning nervously. "Is this joker with you?!"

"The Boulder is no joker! He has been told repeatedly that he has no sense of humor!"

"Shut up, pebble!"

"That sounds awfully Freudian and hurts the Boulder's feelings…"

"Come on, Suki", Haru said quickly before the two could resume bickering. "Look, the fact is the Bei Fongs themselves hired us to test your security. We're just doing our job, same as you."

"I don't like dealing with you lot", Suki groused, crossing her arms. "And I insist we keep this guy here…" she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at the Boulder. "…until we receive a word from Oyaji to order his release."

_Beep beep…_

"Hello?" Suki picked up her phone without taking her piercing violet eyes off Haru or easing up on her scowl. "Understood, sir. Have a nice day", her phone went off with a beep. "I've got word from Oyaji ordering his release. He may go, but I'm warning you…"

* * *

The Resistance they had called themselves. During the Fire-Earth Conflict, many Earth Kingdom villages fell victim to the sudden invasion by the Fire Nation. Earthbenders were taken captive by the Fire Nation, knowing the value of their ability to the Earth Kingdom military, and most of them were imprisoned in off-shore prison rigs, in structures made of unbendable metal.

_Unbendable metal_, the girl thought to herself.

It was not until Tyro, a retired soldier from Ba Sing Se who at the time was a miner in a small village along the Western Shore, was captured along after a valiant effort to defend his village, broke out of the off-shore prison rig that held him, did the Resistance came to being.

Tyro led his fellow prisoners against the Fire Nation invaders, liberating villages after villages, adding more men and guns into his ranks. By the end of the war, he had had almost five hundreds men and women in his command, benders and non-benders. It was reported that his Resistance's expertise in guerrilla tactics had thwarted many Fire Nation assault plans, intercepted many convoys, raided their arsenals and prisons.

When the war ended, the Earth King himself personally commended Tyro for his meritorious service during the war and awarded him a re-commission. Tyro had politely declined but was allowed to retain his Resistance militia. Posted along the western coast, his reformed Western Shore Anti-Piracy Regiment became one of the few Earth Kingdom semi-military organizations funded by the government to maintain law and order. It is worth noting that in the mainstream system of the Earth Kingdom, the army doubles as law enforcer; only Ba Sing Se, Tianshui and Omashu have a separate police force.

A year after the formation, the number of smuggling and domestic piracy had gone down. It led to lower arrest rate for the Western Shore Anti-Piracy Regiment, who was still affectionately known as the Resistance, and then to their disbandment by the order of the Earth Council on the ground that the fund for their upkeep was no longer proportionate to their usefulness.

Tyro, however, kept his group together and turned it into a private agency. Now taking cases with system akin to those of a mercenary groups or private investigation agency, the Western Shore Agency offered services in the line of VIP protection, private investigation, property security service, crime investigation—

The blind girl pressed the power button; the audio book went off. Unseeing misty porcelain green eyes stared into nothingness as she threw her cellphone to her large queen-sized bed. She stepped down from her chair, perfectly fitted to accommodate her height of a twelve year old, and walked to her window across her spacious room.

_Unbendable metal_, she thought to herself again.

Grinning wide, she extended her hand to the bars on her window; bars of jail that kept her safe from the world.

Hidden.

Cell, with bars. Her parents thought she would not notice; she would not notice because she would not see, she would not see how the bars on her window resembled the bars in a prison cell. Her father even ordered some artisans to carved coiling vines of leaves and flowers on each individual bars, hoping to hide the ugliness of the resemblance her room had further become; to hide the fact her room had become her cell.

To hide her.

Her grin held strong as her senses detected the miniscule particle of earth inside the metal.

_Unbendable metal_, they said.

She curled her fingers, gripping hard the muscle of her forearms contracted; fierce and powerful grip yet a delicate bending feat. Like capturing grains of sand flowing in the water, like catching a soft strand of feather drifting in the air; precise yet delicate.

The metal bar crunched in a crisp screech, bending to her will, twisting with one another.

_Unbendable, my butt!_ She mentally gloated. _I'm the greatest earthbender in the whole world!_

* * *

Suki received the possum-chicken meatball skewers gratefully; a very delicious treat native to the Kyoshi Island, four meatballs each the size of a ping-pong ball boiled in salt water, skewered and grilled, and served with savory peanut gravy. Common everywhere, from humble food hawker stands to some five-star joints of Ba Sing Se, it was definitely Suki's favorite. She fished out several cooper coins from her pocket but the vendor refused; only after a lot of insisting did the vendor sheepishly received her money, coming to a consensus of giving her a discount instead of freebies.

Taking her lunch with her in a styrofoam container as she strolled along the one road in between the two rows of houses that constituted the main dwelling area of Kyoshi Village. People greeted as she passed, young and old; a couple of men working on a speeder-bike waving at her passing as they wiped the grimes off their hands and faces, a couple of old men engaging in a friendly Pai Sho game (Suki even stopped and whispered a counter move to Old Man Chu before walking away), a pair of her fellow Warriors patrolling the street, a group of children playing tag (Suki helped Koko, the little girl who tripped and cried, even bribed her with one of her skewered meatballs), and, as she reached the village round square where a tall pole was erected, housing a large statue of Kyoshi, the founder of the village, her light mood plummeted.

Those two were there.

"The Boulder has explained this before: the security seems satisfactory", the bare-chested man, who was now bearing a large holster on his right waist, said. "The Boulder sees no more reason to remain here."

"My dad ordered us to stay here and welcome the Bei Fongs", Haru waved his phone a little. "He said the Bei Fongs have added the fee and hired us for further protection details for their daughters."

"Daughter?" the Boulder asked, scratching his head. "The Boulder does not know the Bei Fongs have a daughter. Is this the same Bei Fong Family headed by Lao Bei Fong of Gaoling?"

"That's the one", Haru murmured, double-checking the data on his phone. "It says here, they have a twelve-year-old daughter with special needs. I wonder what that means."

"The Boulder also hails from Gaoling and spends his weekends there, fighting in the Earth Rumble", the large man said. "The Boulder has never heard of this daughter."

Haru simply shrugged. The whiff of meat and lavender coming from behind him made him turn around. "Suki", he greeted friendlily, he even bowed a little. Suki, of course, ignored the gesture and left it unreciprocated.

"What are you still doing here?" she said, pointing an empty skewer like a fencer would a sword towards Haru's nose.

"W-well", Haru laughed weakly. "New directives from the HQ: we are to wait for the Bei Fongs; we've been hired as bodyguards."

Suki growled. "What is it with you city people and—"

"You've got something on your…" Haru wiggled a finger on the corner of Suki's mouth.

"I feel like slitting your throat with a blunt knife", Suki threatened, wiping her face, thanking Kyoshi for the face paint that hid her blush.

"Blunt knife?" Haru raised a brow.

"A sharp knife will end the fun too quickly", the Kyoshi Warrior snarled before turning around and walking away, leaving Haru gulping while tugging his collar.

"You may not see it, but she's actually a sweet girl", Haru said to the Boulder.

"The Boulder gets the feeling that you know the angry girl from before."

"We used to be childhood friends. When my dad was a miner, he often transported his ores all the way here; I used to tag along. We were pretty close when we were kids", Haru shrugged. "Although, there was this one time when she nearly fed me to the unagi."

* * *

Toph Bei Fong was not particularly fond of silk dresses. She, being afforded modern home-schooling at what her father believed to be the appropriate pace for one so fragile as she, had learnt a little about gene in her science class and believed that the blue-blooded Bei Fong gene skipped her over. Silk and velvet, glazing over her fair skin like water, made her feel naked despite the elaborate dress she was wearing being consisted of a halter, a thin inner dress, a sleeveless middle dress, a flowing wide-sleeved outer dress, and, complementing the whole contraption, a sash and a long thin shawl.

To make it worse, she had to wear shoes.

Her charcoal hair was done in her unusually neat usual large bun; her messy fringe was all tied up, leaving nothing but two short strands of feminine looking bangs running along the sides of her face.

At least, her mother did not make her wear any make-up, she cheered herself. Acting weak, all coughy and hacky the moment the woman applied the weird substance that made her feel too conscious of her lips did wonder as always. Poppy Bei Fong would always be ready to blame 'dubious chemical substance' when this happened.

But, shoes… oh, shoes! If she could make one wish, she would travel back in time, find the inventor of shoes, and strangle him to death with her bare hands.

The highly ornate van rocked rather violently as its all-terrain treads ran over some rocks on the uneven countryside road. Toph heard her mother gasp sharply and felt her father leaping to her side, embracing, nearly cradling her tiny self. "Toph, are you alright?"

"Yes, Dad", Toph muttered as pleasantly as her snarl could sound. "It's just a bump."

Lao Be Fong was not listening. He turned to the armrest of the seats of their lavishly padded and decorated van and pressed a button that connected the communicator to the driver. "Be more careful! My daughter is delicate and the bumps you fools run over so willy-nilly are not good for her health!"

"*_bzzt_* _Understood, sir. It won't happen again_", the voice came from the communicator.

"Good", Lao Bei Fong barked, hanging up. "It will be alright, dear."

Toph bit back her spicy retort; they had never done her good in the past. Instead, she resumed her docile mild-mannered perfect daughter persona. "Yes, Dad."

"Look, Toph, we're approaching the ocean", her mother said in an attempt to cheer her up; Toph felt her father tensing up and the carpeted floor of the van told her that her mother had shrunken a bit in her seat.

Toph smiled a little; for a lady smile or giggle, never guffaw.

Her father never let her go the whole time; he even held her a tad tighter as the speeder-van reach the shoreline, hovered up two feet up the air, and the all-terrain treads were drawn back into the vehicle base to allow for an amphibious repulsorlift device to take its place. Their sail across the water was markedly smoother but, despite the noise the water splashes made against the grass-green exterior of their van, Toph could see nothing but shifting shapes and surfaces. She pressed the back of her hand gently and subtly on the wall and it only helped her vision a little. The packed and tight padding made the vibration even fuzzier.

She missed land already.

"Toph, dear", her mother spoke again with her usual motherly, if not patronizing, voice. "Are you feeling alright? You are not getting seasick, are you?"

"No, Mom. I'm fine", Tops said as sweetly as she could; which was not much, comparatively speaking.

She felt lousy of being babied around.

Her parents thought she was being brave.

"I'm going to go lie down", she said, standing up suddenly. Toph did not particularly need to; the Blind Bandit, the reigning champion of the Earth Rumble VI needed not lie down from something as silly as… *_burp_* sea…travel…

At least by lying down, she would feel more vibration, not limited only to her sitting butt and shoed feet, and the occasional touching of the wall when her mother was not looking (for a lady must sit with legs together and hands on top of the thighs, the woman had said repeatedly). She needed to feel something if only it was just the whirring and slight vibration of the gears and knobs and other moving parts of the repulsorlift below their feet. Sea travel was like being tossed around in vacuum; bouncing and floating, blind completely for all she cared. She had read –well, _heard_- about waterboarding and wondered if the effect was anything similar to this.

_Yup, definitely_, she thought as she emptied the content of her gut on her father's lap.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Haru asked, looking up while holding his index fingers across the space between his nose and upper lip.

"The Boulder thinks you look rather silly with a moustache", always the honest one, the Boulder was.

"Really?" Haru frowned.

"You look like the pimp we arrested a few weeks ago."

"That's harsh."

"You look a pimp period", Suki announced her and her Warriors' arrival.

Haru was a gentle patient soul, but being compared to a pimp by a childhood friend… well, it hurt. "Seriously, Suki… what have I ever done to you?"

Could be his tone, could be look in his face, or the light in his eyes; Suki felt the jolt of guilt and it showed in her widened violet eyes. She turned to her Warriors and dismissed them; she waited until each and every one of the Kyoshi Warriors assumed their appointed spot on the Kyoshi Island beach, meaning far enough not to hear her, before she turned around to Haru once more.

In a rare show of discomfort, she grasped her elbow and had seemingly shrunken. Unable to look Haru in the eye, she fixed her glance at a dried up starfish at her feet. "Look, I'm sorry", she managed oh, so strugglingly. "It's just that this Bei Fongs' visit thing is getting me antsy."

"And us being here isn't exactly helping, huh?" Haru smiled kindly, looking at the starfish Suki kicked into the water. "Look, we might be on the different sides of employment but we want the same thing. So, let's just get along, okay?"

"The Boulder seconds that notion."

"Well, yeah, okay", Suki managed to sound a little snappish, still keeping eyes on the starfish that, upon being rehydrated, bounced away to the direction of the ocean. "But, don't get in our way."

Haru shrugged, raising his hands in a 'whatever you say' manner, grinning.

Suki chuckled at that, feeling lighter than she had been ever since they received the news about the Bei Fongs' plan to visit the Island a week ago. "I really am sorry, you know", she said again. "Look, how about this? After this is all over, we'll go somewhere. Do something. Like old times. How about we go swimming?"

"Yeah, nice try", Haru muttered dryly. "I think the unagi still remembers my scent. So, no thanks."

Suki laughed shrilly; her Warriors looked at her weirdly but she did not notice. Saving her from the frown and prejudice from her colleagues was the roaring sound of machine and parting water. An amphibious speeder-van was sailing towards them across the ocean. It was large, indeed: easily the size of a small spaceship, dark khaki with bright golden accent, the van was highly ornate with artistic fitted engraving that gave it a resemblance to a flying boar, the two diagonal protrusions on top of the vehicle that housed the auxiliary jet engines did looked like a pair of wings from the front.

The Kyoshi Island was the proponent of isolationist policy; they did not even pay tax to the Earth King. Naturally, they did not have a harbor or landing space and had neither the time nor the desire to set up one. During the village meeting, they had settled on just a long green carpet being set up from the beach all the way to the village so their exalted guests would not have to set their feet on dirty sand and ground.

If you notice sarcasm there, good.

They had little use of technology; most of the villagers still stubbornly clung to the old ways. What little modern comfort they had was either the results of trade with other Earth Kingdom regions or from online shopping. They had cellphones; after all, who could turn down cellphones? And they had internet for convenience purposes. They had one or two speeder-bikes but no one had a car. They village had a publicly owned ferry for their 'abandon the mother ship' protocol and for tourists, and they had accepted the use of modern lightning. Electricity was only enough to get by and they still cooked using firewood. Their village clinic still predominantly used herbal remedy, bone-setting, leeching, and acupuncture. They had guns but they were procured from the black markets during the time of war and were only carried by the Warriors for special occasions such as these; for hunting purposes, they still use bows and arrows.

Kyoshi Island traditional ways were quite famous; the government even listed the place as one of the Authentic Earth Kingdom Cultural Experience in the travel guide for tourists. The Kyoshi Islanders put faith in the Bei Fongs' common sense to arrive in a vehicle capable of both land and water travel.

"Do you know anything about Bei Fong's daughter with special needs?" Haru roared over the village band that had begun playing some drum-and-woodwind-instruments-dominated tune.

"What daughter?" Suki yelled back. "I didn't know that they have a daughter!"

"They said they're coming with their daughter!" Haru shouted. "We are to be the girl's bodyguards! They said she has special needs!"

"What? I've never heard of this!" Suki snapped, trying to make herself heard over the loud welcoming music; she turned to the band and gestured them to stop to no avail. "What special needs? Is she sick or something? Do we need to prepare a doctor?"

"I don't know! I thought you knew!" Haru yelled. "That's why I asked!"

"What?! Oh, brother… _Oyajiiii_!" she turned to the tall, slightly stuffed, gray-haired, bearded village chief who was standing with the village elders further back. "Oyaji! Do you know about the Bei Fongs' dau—"

"Whaaaat?!"

"Daughter! Daaauuughter! You never told me about the Bei Fongs' daughter!"

The village chief laughed kindly. "Of course I love like my own daughter, you silly sentimental girl!"

Suki facepalmed.

"Nooo! I-I mean, well, _thank you_! But, that's not what I asked!" she shouted. "The Bei Fong's daughter! The girl has special needs!"

Oyaji gasped. "_Suki_! How many times do I have to tell you: talk to my wife about… that kind of needs!"

Another facepalm. Haru was thoroughly impressed by the resilience of not only Suki's forehead but also her face paint.

"That is not what I—"

—BOOM!—

Over the ensuing chaotic screaming and the sudden end to the music, Haru and the Boulder quickly dashed for the shoreline. The stomped the flimsy hardened wet sand and made an identical movement of light leap and double slow strained uppercuts; a platform of wide enough hardened sand and earth emerged from the feet and traced along ahead into the water about eight feet away. The two earthbenders led the way and repeated the joint earthbending feat, forging a path for them and the Kyoshi Warriors behind them.

—BOOM!—

Another shot from the canon of the shady looking ship hit the Bei Fongs' van. Gun turrets appeared from the top of the van and whirred around to the direction of the hostile ship; the hostile ships' canons fire two earsplitting consecutive shots of giant plasma. The green bolts were absorbed by a translucent layer of protective energy field surrounding the van.

A sign of the affluence of the Bei Fongs, thought Haru; most vehicles only had one energy reactor used to power their engines. Any additions, such as weapons and shields, used the same reactor and shields used a hell lot of power. The van was staying afloat with its repulsorlift, still firing mercilessly at the shield-less black ship, and had its shield up. It either had an extremely powerful reactor or had several installed in it.

As they got closer to the scene of the naval battle, the hostile ship, which now the reinforcement noticed, bore the skull flag of the pirates, swerved and stopped; it moved with an uncanny dexterity despite being a rather large ship. There was a sound, a mixture or engines roaring and some wild howling, and around ten speeder-bikes jumped over the railings and onto the water.

Most of the pirates circled around and aimed for the Bei Fongs while around five bikes, each carrying two scruffy mean-looking pirates, sped towards the platform of earth and already they were firing away wildly.

Haru would have needed either a thoracic surgery or an obituary had Suki not jumped in front of him with her shield up. The Kyoshi Warriors' shield, like their katana, was a weapon of war and utilized only for special occasion. The bolt from the rifle did not even leave a mark on the surface of the shield but the concussive force of the collision still sent the girl and the boy she crashed back into to the ground.

The Boulder jumped in front of them and stomped mightily; a chunk of rock jumped up in front of them and he punched it to the bike that carried the shooter. The collision sent the bike's nose to the ocean; the law of physics bounced the bike and the two passengers on the surface of the water before the ocean received them. The Bolder sent several more shots of earth, each was evaded by the incoming five bikes; as they got closer to the range where earthbending was no longer effective against their speed, he pulled out his gun from his holster and fired. The remaining Kyoshi Warriors did the same.

"Whoa!" Suki muttered as she got up, violet eyes widening at the large caliber, long-barreled Insula which was the Boulder's preference of handgun. "Big gun."

"That still sounds a little Freudian but the Boulder finds it flattering", the man commented back. Suki bristled.

"Watch out!" Haru grabbed Suki from behind and pushed her to the ground; one of the speeder-bikes, chorused by the howling of the riders jumped off the water and arched above their heads. As it landed back on the water, it splashes water onto the two's faces before speeding away. Haru and Suki, both standing up, fired their weapons mercilessly at the aforementioned bike; they hit the jet engine at the back, it exploded and the two pirates were thrown to the water screaming like little girls.

Exchanging a grin, the two youths leaped to their feet and began fending off remaining pirates. "The Bei Fongs!" one of the Warriors screamed. The main pirate ship had begun bombarding the van again; the layer of soap-bubble-like energy had begun to visibly wane.

"Suki, we'll take care of this!" another Kyoshi Warriors shouted. "Go to the Bei Fongs!"

Suki nodded and Haru, ordering the Boulder to stay with the Warriors, raced ahead and channeled his bending to create more footholds, branching away towards the Bei Fongs. Two other Warriors joined them and, together with Suki, held the defense with their shields as Haru bent the earth from the bottom of the ocean as fast as he could. About halfway to the van that had stopped moving as it was being surrounded and ganged up by the pirate ship and speeder-bikes, Haru's handiwork had grown noticeable narrower and more cracked.

"Is there really no earthbenders among you?" the boy heaved, gripping his knees as he bent forwards, breathing hard through his aching muscles.

"Sadly, no", Suki replied sweetly.

"Seriously, a group inspired by the most powerful earthbender in history of mankind—", he roared and performed his double uppercut, raising a few feet of earth. "—who created a whole island by herself with nothing but earthbending—", he took a step, fell into his stance, and repeated the hand movement. "—has no absolutely no earthbenders?!"

"Well, you know, must be one of those things", Suki shrugged, deflecting a shot with her shield. She fired her gun wildly at the line of shooters on the railing of the ship ahead, scattering them.

Haru built several more feet of footing to the relatively still ship before he collapsed to his knee, exhausted, only five feet away from the ship. Suki, wasting no time, dashed forward and, using Haru's shoulder as a foothold, launched herself to the railing of the ship, around eight or nine feet up. She caught the railing, hauled herself onto the deck, and began dispatching pirates right and left with her katana.

A bolt from the side she deflected with her shield; she dashed to the shooter; the shooter cocked his rifle back to place and fired a close ranged shot, Suki threw her torso back and used her built-up momentum to slide forward, avoiding the shot and slashing her sword at the pirate's leg as she passed her. Getting up to her knees, she slashed once, incapacitating a large man in front of her who was about to bash her with a club. Pushing with her feet, she launched herself to the side, deeper into the deck, slashing two pirates as she dashed.

She brought down three more pirates with her quick slashes before she ran to the side of the ship she jumped from and cut one of the many ropes that held the sail and tied to the railing to allow access for Haru and her Warriors. Joining their leader, the three Kyoshi Warriors fell into their highly synchronized shield-and-sword stance; as a fighting group, the Kyoshi Warriors were renowned for their prowess in melee combat. Unlike the typical Earth Kingdom and earthbending philosophy of personal strength, the Kyoshi Warriors relied on both their personal prowess and the strength of their comrades in fighting as a group, supporting each other in the face of the enemies.

Haru, feeling and being out of place, simple fell into a stance.

The remaining pirates, now aware that they were being boarded, charged at them; the Kyoshi Warriors lunged in their signature aggressive weapon style and Haru, knowing no other melee combat form other than bending, pulled out his gun. Before he could fire a shot though, a barrel next to him toppled down and spilled its content of green luminescent crystal cannonballs, each the size of a cantaloupe; one of the Bei Fongs' gun turrets fired a shot and the large caliber plasma bolt hit one of the cannonballs.

Haru managed to jump and drag the nearest Kyoshi Warrior to the deck before it exploded. The ringing in his ears was offset by the pain in his head and the numbness on the surface of the skin of his back and arms. As the Kyoshi Warrior stopped stiffing up and turned to him with the sharp brown eyes of hers, Haru could see those brown orbs widening and, as she pushed herself up and gingerly turned Haru to his side, sensations flooded back to his system and he felt sharp burning pain on his back and arms.

Earth is the Element of Might and Endurance, earthbenders are the embodiment of such traits. Ignoring the Warrior's protest, Haru sat up, grunting. He was still holding his gun, he noticed, and the back of his arms and hands were burnt and bloodied and he had some splinter of woods and shrapnel of metals sticking out of his flesh. His clothes on the area were brunt and tattered and had seemingly seeped into his wounds.

The Warrior shouted something but Haru heard her muffled as if someone was pressing a pillow on his ears. The Warrior raised her hand and caught a katana that somebody threw her; she leaped to her feet and dashed past Haru. Haru was about to turn around and see where she went off to but Suki arrived by his side.

"Haru, are you alright?" she asked frantically. Haru grinned weakly, apparently not knowing that the explosion had torn down a significant chunk of the ship and his surviving that blast with limbs intact was nothing short of a miracle.

"I'm fine", he said. "H-help me up…"

"No, you're injured", Suki said breathlessly. She bounced behind him, retracted her shield, slung her arms under Haru's arms, and pulled the groaning boy to the nearest horizontal surface on the relatively safe corner of the deck. Reaching for the nearest gun one of the pirates dropped, which happened to be a three-barreled pepperbox rifle (Kyoshi knows why these pirates were adamant about their old pirate-themed weaponries that still for the most part shot crystal balls), she handed it to Haru. "Trade with me."

"What? _No_!" Haru actually felt offended by this. "Use your own!"

"I dropped my gun in the ocean when I jumped here", Suki admitted sheepishly. "Come on! I need a real gun!"

"And I don't?" Haru grumbled as he begrudgingly and strugglingly lifted his gun. "Can you even handle my gun?"

"Now, that…" Suki thrust the old fashioned, probably handmade rifle to Haru's chest, grinning. "…is Freudian."

Haru mentally slapped his head as Suki got up and brought up her shield, deflecting several shots and fired some of her own before she dashed into the fray. He really did not mean it. While it was true that he and Suki were using the popular Earth Kingdom Pietra model, Suki's was the older model of Pietra 25 that had less firepower and but less severe recoil; Haru's Peitra 80/RB had a reinforced barrel and improved firing mechanism that allowed for a spilt second more supercharging process of the bullet upon having its shell shattered by the firing hammer in the chamber, hence allowing a faster, more accurate shot that packed more punch. It doubled the recoil from the model 25 and three other models between them though and, therefore, was rarely used by females.

Suki seemed to handle it alright, Haru thought, witnessing the proficiency of his friend in fighting back the assailants that outnumbered them still. One-handed too, he inclined his head a bit.

Suki spun and kicked, almost like she was dancing as she landed a roundhouse kick on a pirate and brought him down to the floor. She fell into a low stance with her shield raised, deflecting a plasma shot, and, thrusting her stance forward, she fired an accurate shot that hit the rifle-bearing pirate on the shoulder. The bald man screamed and fell overboard.

A pirate fell to her feet and another Kyoshi Warrior pounced at him, staking her knee on his chest and her blade on his shoulder. Abruptly, Suki and the Warrior assumed an identical stance side by side, shields raised to cover each other's back, saving one another from shots that would have hit them otherwise. They dashed to the opposite directions and dispatched the shooters.

A female shriek broke Haru's attention from the fight. With a renewed surge of strength, he pushed himself up to his feet and staggered to the other side of the ship. A pirate roared as he swung an axe at Haru; Haru raised his gun and parried the attack but the collision sent his back slamming to the wall and stinging pain erupted from the surface of his back. The pirate raised his weapon again and Haru forwent the Code of Honor in favor of experiencing tomorrow's morning sun; he kneed the pirate in the part of male anatomy Freudian Theories often revolve around.

Compassionate as he was, as the pirate slumped to his knees in a chorus of a long, high-pitched, almost soprano grunt, Haru gripped the long barrel of his old-fashioned rifle and slammed the butt of the stock on the back of the pirate's skull like a pestle, knocking him out cold. The stretching on his wounded back due to the movement was not pleasant.

Haru gathered what strength he had left and resumed his track to the railing. Another pirate dashed towards him but a long-haired Kyoshi Warrior leaped from the top of the deckhouse he was leaning on and kneed the pirate on the shoulders, knocking him to the floor. The Warrior rolled forward, jumped to her feet, and engaged in a close-quarter combat with two more pirates who were armed with a harpoon and a spear while Haru staggered the last few steps to the railing.

He heaved and reached the metal plated wooden railing in time to witness the shield of the van failing, cracking like a glass ball at first before dissipating from the cracked area like a soap bubble popping caught in a slow motion frame. A loud celebrative cheer and howling erupted from the remaining pirates. A shot erupted from the deck canon mounted on the upper deck; it disintegrated one of the two gun turrets. Another shot was loaded and took down the other gun turret on top of the van's broad roof.

Haru watched in horror as several grappling hooks were thrown by the pirates riding the speeder-bikes; they climbed aboard the ship as some of the pirates on the black ship where they battled jumped over. The hatch on top of the vehicle slid open and several men in armor and wide circular hat emerged, each were armed with a rifle in their hands and a broadsword on their waists.

The six Bei Fong guards were soon matched by at least eight pirates. Haru instinctively raised his gun and took aim at one of the fighting pirates on top of the van; they were moving much and the jumping and leaping around furthered unbalanced the stability of the van's antigravity function. Plus, Haru's hands were trembling too much from the burning pain; the fabric of his clothes sticking to the wound dragging and rubbing on his wounds whenever he moved his arms was quite unpleasant to say the least.

He thought he had a shot there, at the pirate who was locking his cudgel with a guard's broadsword. Haru aimed his rifle and squeezed the trigger, hearing the click but no shot was fired. Grumbling, he reached to the barrel and manually rotated it to place the next barrel to the firing hammer. By the time he was ready to aim again, the guard had already overpowered the pirate and slashed him on the arm only to be kicked from behind and sent flying down to the water.

Sighing, Haru moved to another target; he almost dropped his gun to the sea as the ship lurched sideways and rammed the smaller van. One of the wings penetrated the side of the ship and was lodged there, locking the two vehicles together. The van, being smaller, was titled to its right; the combatants on top of it, the ones who still stood after the collision that is, slid towards the ship briefly before they regain as stable a footing as they could managed and began fighting again. The two remaining guards were promptly jumped by the five pirates and heaved overboard.

Haru was a trained warrior and trained warriors often develop this sixth-sense-like ability to sense people; some say they sense the very presence of the other person, some say it's their chi that resonate with each other, some say it's the bloodlust or the aura or even the soul. Haru turned to his left as he sensed the tingling feeling that sent his spine to the chill side. A large man in a flowing weathered leather trench coat and a wide green-feathered tricorne hat, with burly build and heavily burnt face, raised his left arm that, due to him standing tall on top of the deckhouse, facing the van, Haru did not see.

His left arm was burly under his sleeve that he pulled up; his hand was missing and instead, he had a small bionic modification in the form of a canon fixed on it.

The first thought that came to Haru's mind was. "_That can't be legal_", because human body weaponizing modification was forbidden by the International Law of both the military and the medical fields, not to mention highly frowned upon.

The second thought was. "_Oh, *beep*…_" as the plasma bolt charged up inside the chamber of the bionic hand with its distinctive screech and bright green light emerged and amplified slowly from the opening of the hand canon that was wide enough to fit Haru's whole fist.

The metallic ripping sound was both familiar and shocking; the sound was akin to the sound a soda can makes when you crunched it in your hand, only duller and, by the spirits, louder. A large plate of dark khaki metal with golden accent and what appeared to be a protrusion that looked like a wing attached to it, flew across the air and knocked the bionic-armed pirate, knocking his tricorne hat off his bandana head, and his shot to the side.

The large plasma bolt the size of an apple hit the main mast and disintegrated the wood, breaking the pole in two. The pole fell to the direction of the bow. The pirate with bionic arm jumped down from the deckhouse, nearly getting smacked in the head by the thick pole.

He landed two feet away from where Haru was standing.

Before Haru could aim though, and before the mean huge pirate could raise his robotic arm, a little girl flew, literally flew onto the pirate ship. Tiny girl in a soft bright yellow-green dress, with bright skin, black hair, and misty green eyes. Haru, despite the peril he was on, thought she looked like an angel up to the part where she wreaked havoc.

* * *

Toph was lying peacefully on the chaise lounge she was occupying alone, resting her neck lightly on the upper armrest and her back on some stacked up cushions, careful as to not ruin her hair bun; her mother would have a fit if Toph descended the van and presented herself in front of people for the first time with ruined hair if only slightly. She would have a fit anyway if she had to fix her daughter's hair before they descended the van.

Her father having to wear another coat in this summer climate to cover her vomit stain on his garb was already enough to set the general mood on the down low.

Toph nearly drifted off to sleep, lulled by the soft, never ceasing whirring of the repulsorlift below them. The subtle but constant vibration it gave out was comfortable and, if she focused, really really focused, she could feel the vibration bounced back from all over the room.

Huh… she had just noticed that there was a chandelier on the ceiling. Circular, mimicking the shape of the Earth Kingdom insignia, with a tiny engraving that probably said 'Made in Earth Kingdom'. Toph could not tell exactly; she could not read or write. Her parents were against her learning the Moon Alphabet: the writing system for the blind developed in the Northern Water Tribe.

In its home planet, the Moon Alphabet physically consisted of customized simple lines of characters that each represents any known verbal syllable to some extent, carved or bent on the surface of the ice; ice did not melt in the subzero temperature of the Water Tribe planets. The accuracy of the representation was not that great, especially if a morpheme ended with a consonant sound.

In the other Nations, the characters were embossed on parchments or, in some rare instances, carved on a stone. It made use of the blind's touch perception to feel the characters and make them out by touch alone.

Her father had refused to allow her to learn the alphabet, not when there were audio books available widely in Gaoling. Also, he reasoned, the effort it took to learn and memorizing the shapes and the hours Toph had to spend hunching over a book might not be good for her weak constitution. Lao Bei Fong had also used the inaccuracy of the syllabic representations to dissuade Toph further.

The Common Shi Hassa has a standardized writing system of characters, you see, with each character representing a complete word (most of the time). Hyphenated noun phrases had no different writing than when the words are used separately. The writing of names follows the standard but the pronunciation is inconsistent and the standard that people are using is about as widely accepted as an end-of-the-world prophecy foretold by a loincloth-clad, man-eating, Fire Nation tribe.

Toph's name is written as '拓芙' and can be read as 'Toph', 'Tuo Fu', 'Taku Hasu', and at least three other ways. Moon Alphabet, with its emphasis on the sound of the morpheme, would write it as 'とふ'/ 'to fu'. Toph would rather have her name mistaken with a common dish made of coagulated soy juice rather than with 'Taku Hasu'. But, that was not the point.

Toph saw the use of Moon Alphabet when she could not see at all and she was disappointed that her father could not.

Poppy Bei Fong got up from her seat and walked steadily to the lounge where Toph was lying. Toph noticed this the moment her mother stood up and shifted all her weight to her feet; she could only tell it was her mother because her father was twice heavier than the woman. Although, the female noble outfit consisted of more layers of heavier silk and her mother's unfathomably intricate hairdo offset quite a great deal of the weight gap.

The whiff of pearl jasmine that came from the footsteps that stopped about a foot away ended all speculation.

Toph could think of millions other things she would rather admit but she found her mother's warm touch on her forehead soothing. But, Toph being… well, _tough_, at least in the inside when she was the little Miss Bei Fong, hidden under the layer of fines silk, expensive brocades, fancy shawls, and delicate pearl hair ornament, she turned away, rolling around, turning her back on the woman.

Toph could literally feel the jolt on her mother's chest, sensing the vibration, or the lack thereof, when the woman's heart skipped a beat. A painful beat, or the lack thereof.

It is the curse of blood relation that some would consider a blessing: empathy.

When the things she did hurt, or would hurt, her parents and she knew it; when acting tough by staying up all night listening to her audio books worried her father so much, when refusing to drink her endurance enhancing ginseng soup sent her mother to one of her losses of appetite, when sneaking some extra earthbending training caused her father to sternly but tearfully threaten that he would disallow such activity in the future completely, when running away from home made her mother bedridden for days.

The only place she could literally be free was the Earth Rumble VI and even there she was not free; well, not truly. Every pieces of earth she bent, every pieces of rock she sent flying brought her the tug in her chest, the inevitable one that made her think of the cardiac arrest she might have induced on her father and the hypertension her mother would undoubtedly suffer has she been found out.

Still, kicking grown men's butts was quite effective in ridding the guilt. Earning the belt and money was an extra. She kept them on a hole concealed by her bending right beneath her floor under her bed, just in case. Just in case…

_Just in case…_

Like a devout priest chanting a mantra.

Just in case her parents finally grew enough semblance of a brain to take the hint already, to know that she was not some helpless delicate sand sculpture of a flower, unable to stand even the slightest draft of wind.

Just in case she finally grew upset enough to run away. Again. And for good!

Just in case she finally grew numb enough to ignore her parents' pain so she could run away. Again. And for good!

_Just in case…_

She would need the money and the belt she could pawn or something.

And thanks to her parents' stupidity, when she was finally run away again (and for good!) she would not be able to send any letters home. Well, it would their lost, not Toph's.

One day, she would, she knew. She would run away.

Again…

And for good…

If only her mother would stop rubbing her back like that. Toph liked it when her mother did that; it made her feel comfortable, feel safe. Like she was a babe again, sightless and in complete darkness, when the world she knew was pitch dark and consisted of the echoing of sound, when the rumble of her fear shook the very earth she was stepping on, sending her plummeting towards feral fear even deeper.

When she was truly blind…

Hopeless…

Helpless…

Her mother's touch was the source of comfort; oh, like a drop of morning dew to the thirsty, like a grain of rice to the hungry, like a drop of sunlight to the wilting flowers. Small but it brought comfort, it brought so much comfort, the kind only a mother could give. It told her that she was not alone, that even if she could not see them, her parents were there for her.

Toph finally turned around, still pouting; she felt her mother shifted as the woman sat on the side of the lounge, felt the vibration of her weight on the furniture and from the meeting of the woman's buttock with Toph's side. Poppy was chuckling soundlessly.

Toph did not see what was funny, please pardon the pun. If anything, she felt a bit crossed. There was nothing funny about her throwing up on her father, in Toph's opinion. "I'm fine, Mom", she tried to sound harsh… well, harsher, just a tad harsher than she usually (allowed herself to) sound when her parents were around. What came out was a barest of whisper that left a rich taste of guilt and remorse in her mouth.

Poppy took this as the sign that her daughter was unwell.

"Perhaps, we should postpone this trip", she offered. "We can turn around and go back to the Chin Village. Then, maybe we can have some of that fried dough you loved so much."

"No, Mom", Toph said quietly. "I'm fine."

Toph felt it again, that distinct beat, or the lack thereof, in her mother's heat, one that always occurred when Toph was trying to be brave, to be strong.

It might have been something sentimental, something that carried great value to her mother, something that instilled some measure of pride Toph knew her parents were not getting much of from her. Toph hated that deep down.

To her parents, it was of pride.

To her, it was nothing but a big fat lie.

Being brave… being strong…

She was not a coward; so how could she _act_ brave she already was?

She was not weak; so how could she _pretend to be_ strong when she already was?

Lie… and nothing but lie…

"My Lady", a silky sweet voice of a male called; Toph mentally slapped her head for allowing Master Yu walk this close to her without her knowing it. But, then again, the floor was carpeted and Master Yu did not wear shoes. "My Lady, we are approaching Kyoshi Island soon."

"Thank you, Master Yu", Poppy nodded kindly. "Do you hear that, Toph?"

_Of course, I do, Mother… I'm blind not deaf!_

"We're almost there", Poppy said cheerfully. "So…" her tone trailed a fraction bit to the sad side; Toph likened the tone to a stone bridge with a crumbling bottom: nice on the surface, cracked and chipped below. "…hang on for a little while more, okay?"

"Yes, Mom", Toph mumbled indistinctively.

Almost there…

Perhaps this would be good, thought Toph. Kyoshi Island; it was an island. An island is, by definition, a chunk of steady rock surrounded by the ocean and a chunk of steady rock surrounded by the ocean meant Toph would soon be able to… well, _see_ again. Really this time, like the usual; not like this fuzzy muffly impulse her perception received, like hearing somebody talking to you while pressing a pillow on each of your ears, like trying to taste the sweet in sweet and spicy chicken, like trying to feel somebody's touch on a patch of your skin that had been burnt off, like trying to read through a foggy glass though Toph might not know what the last one felt like.

A mighty shake ended her contemplation. It was nothing like Toph had ever experienced; not even the top hard-hitter rumblers, like the Boulder or the Hippo, could generate such powerful shake. Then, Toph remembered that they were at sea and her snap conjecture of an earthbending assault was dumbfounded. She had gripped her mother's arm; in Toph's mind, it was to make sure the lady was alright. In her heart, she was seeking reassurance but Toph cared not for human heart and sentimental emotion, so it did not matter.

She saw it though (again, pardon the pun). From the right side of the van, she felt it; even through the padding on the interior, it was a massive collision. Like a ripple on the surface of the water, it started from one point of collision. Whatever it was disintegrated, or disappeared, transformed into pure force, a concussive force, that shook the giant of a van. The powerful repulsorlift that was designed for such heavy vehicle nearly failed.

Toph quickly released her mother's arm; she felt the woman squirmed in her vice grip. Toph leaped to her feet; to her credit, she managed to hold her reflexive stance that she had learnt from the badger-mole and assumed the more 'standardized' and 'proven' one taught to her by Master Yu. She noticed Master Yu had also assumed his own.

"What was that?!" her mother's frantic tone was apparent; her standing up and scooping Toph's tiny self into a protective embrace could not have come at worse time, pondered Toph bitterly.

And, no! Toph did n…. s-she did not _like_ that!

She had to be able to protect herself and the whole of it she could do being squeezed by her mother and… of course, her father too!

"Mom, Dad…" she heaved from between them; none of her two parents listened, especially when another 'splash' of concussive force shook the whole van again, stronger this time. So strong, the chandelier fell off.

"Careful, Toph", her mother, for all intent and purposes, shrieked. "Don't step on any shards of glass!"

_Oh, of course, we don't want _that! What Toph would not give to be insensitive enough to say that.

There was another 'splash' erupted on the wall of the van and the two maids who had been sitting in the corner somewhere darted to her mother screaming. Together the three women formed a meat wall around Toph, squeezing her while her father went to the direction of their seats, if the fuzziness were to be believed. Toph could feel each and every one of the women's heartbeats and she knew they were more afraid than she was. She could also heard a whirring or some sort and when her father darted back to them, his weight seemed to have increased a little and… unevenly. He did not wear something extra then, more like he was carrying something now. Toph would guess it was a weapon and she would be right.

"Master Bei Fong, sir!" a voice called, a calm rough voice that belonged to a steady heart and heavy footsteps. "We are under attack by pirates, sir."

"Well, do something!" Lao Bei Fong exclaimed. It was not so often Toph felt her father this frantic.

"Yes, sir", the male voice said, still calmly. "We are doing all we can to hold against them. I will ask you and your family to remain here where it's safe."

_Where it's safe…_ Toph could not help but snort. She felt her mother bristled and settled just as quickly, probably thinking she had misheard Toph's whimper as a snort because she proceeded to hug the little girl tighter.

"Don't worry, it will be fine", her father turned to them and spoke with his usual calm tone.

Toph felt and heard the mechanical grinding and whirring right above their head; the others might have heard it too since her mothers and maids stiffened up a little when the sound initially appeared. She could barely tell what it was about. While she felt _something_, some vibration, it was too smooth, too far, too muffled to make out.

There was something, a soft sound, steady sound… almost like a purr, a mechanical one. And then, there were several other sound, like a mixture of a bang and a shriek or, believe it or not, a high-pitched quack. Succeeding the series of bang and quack mixture were 'splashes' similar to the ones that shook their van but smaller and a bit different. The splashes that shook the van, that had now grown a few feet… farther, not that Toph noticed it, was huge; almost like the splash a bucket of water would make. These splashes from the top of the van were like water being squeezed into a tube and expanded the moment it got out.

Toph tried to free herself but, as usual, her struggling was mistaken for something else entirely that, in her parents' mind, accentuated what a poor fragile darling she was. Toph did not know how long she had been squeezed involuntarily in the meat shield; she only knew that it was long enough. Too long!

Contrary to popular belief, Toph did not like swearing. Badmouthing, yes. Taunting, yes. Not swearing. Even the worst bad words that had ever graced her audience would still be able to pass censorship in kids TV show. But, at that moment she nearly freed herself from her mother's and maids' clutches, the universe interfered and she cursed –yes, cursed, with the pure, unaltered, unadulterated f-word- under her breath; the guards barging in with weapons ready, thankfully, drew the attention from her and that slip of the tongue went unnoticed.

Her mother gripped her tighter, like she was the most precious thing to the woman which she probably was. The guard's booming voice was nice though; it reverberated through the object well, giving her a good enough look around her while the man announced that their shield generator was failing and they should be ready to get boarded soon.

They had eight guards with them. Eight is an auspicious number and Lao Bei Fong was quite a believer, you see. Two of them doubled as they chauffeurs as the van needed two persons to operate; one on the wheel and the other on the weapon and navigation system. The other six were in the passengers quarters with them, all armed.

Some sort of static buzz came from the direction of the guard with the booming voice. Toph could hear a buzzy fuzzy small voice that was not his saying that their shield had been knocked down and understood why the booming voiced guard's heart fastened before settling down. Toph felt two consecutive bursting directly above their heads. These, she knew, were explosions. Each burst was followed by numerous smaller thuds of debris. She felt them all.

Next, there were several… knocking or something, like something being thrown on top of the van, and scratching… like they were being dragged across the surface of the van. The pirates tugging the rope attached to the objects made Toph realized that those were hooks. The guard with the booming voice really made the right decision of not telling them that the shield and the gun turrets had been taken out. Toph was sure Lao Bei Fong's calm panic (when he would get all frantic but still so noble and lordly) would not help them much.

One of the guards moved to the corner of the room where Lao's seat was, typing into his seat control panel from the clicking sound of it. Toph heard a louder sound of grinding metal and shifting gear from the ceiling, followed by the flapping of the wind and the smell of salty air.

Still being squeezed, she could barely felt the soft vibration from the men's footsteps ascending the metal ladder. She felt them now standing above them, on the roof of the van. Not long after the six went up, several more thuds landed on the van. It did not take long before Toph noticed that they were outnumbered. The fight they put was more than decent though. Even Toph the Blind Bandit approved of their valor.

Though, one by one, they were defeated. They were fighting pirates, after all. Pirates do not follow the Code of Honor while those guards, each chosen and filtered carefully from various martial arts schools did and did stubbornly so.

The collision that came not long after the fighting above was the most severe one yet; it shook them all off their feet. Toph landed on four to break her fall, and, as her hands touched the carpeted floor, she could see it. Still fuzzy but she could see, vibrating through the 'wing' part of their van that was stuck to the ship, impaling the hull, the scene of a fight. Three of them, she noticed on the deck of the ship twice larger than their van were fighting the odds.

Men versus women, the men outnumbered the women but were severely outmatched. The women picked them off one by one like a serpent-bat striking through a line of petrified mice.

"What's going on?!" her father demanded to no one in particular.

Toph stood up and initially had a trouble keeping balance. The floor had become… slanted.

"Master Yu! Do something!" her father shouted again.

A pair of legs that they all knew did not belong to one of their guards came down from the opening on the ceiling, descending the ladder.

"Y-yes, well…"

Oh, asking a master earthbender to fight in the ocean where there was no earth to bend, where he was powerless. The tantamount to asking a blind to enjoy a scenery, Toph thought bitterly as she was being reminded of her mother's remark about the view of the ocean.

An ordinary earthbender with no bendable was like a blind being asked to see.

Toph was no ordinary earthbender.

She dashed forward two steps, escaping her mother's clutch on her shoulders and kicking off her shoes at the same time. She dragged her left foot forward in a semi-circular motion, knees bent to each other mimicking the bent of the front legs of a badger-mole; hands lifted loosely with palms facing her, neither soft nor overly hard. The stance of the badger-mole she invented from 'watching' them.

She could feel the stiff she had induced the rest of the room.

As the tingly of the static from dragging her bare foot on the carpet subsided, Toph stomped her rear foot forward, joining the other as she bent her knees and joined her forearms on her chest. She could feel it, the particles of tiny earth resonating to her. Kindred spirit, they said, for we are like you.

Trapped.

_Free us…_

That she did; she freed them.

She leaped and fell into a horse stance, calling out and reaching out to those tiny particles, willing them to fight their shackle, telling them there was strength in number. Fractured, minuscule thought they were, they each had worth and she had not forgotten them. That she understood and they must understand her too.

Pushing up with the back of both hands, the top of the van ripped itself. The pair of legs slipped a step on the ladder and now was dangling precariously but the pirate did not fall down. The whole roof separated itself inches apart from the van and, with a mighty push from the metalbender, the whole piece of metal slammed itself to the direction of the pirate ship.

Sunlight and sea air fell upon them, casting warmth that they did not feel and flipping their hair with draft that chilled their bones.

Toph could literally feel the intense disbelief on her parents' and master's faces. Her own was but a stiff unfeeling mask.

She would imagine their eyes widening in conjunction with their hollow heartbeats. Her own unseeing misty green was empty.

"Y-you can bend metal…?" Master Yu stammered.

Toph ignored him and stomped once, back to her bent knees stance. She pushed herself straight up and so did the metal below her feet, ripping through the carpet and propelling her upward, catapulting her towards the pirate ship.

The moment she was fully airborne, she knew that she was free…

The moment her bare feet –oh, her _bare_ feet…- touched the ground, the wooden deck floor, she felt each and every bits and pieces of metal that littered around and that was attached to the edges of the deckhouse, on the rims of the ships, attached to the people wearing them like those three females, even lodged on the back and arms of that guy who was holding on to some sort of rifle…

Oh, the moment her feet touched the ground and she felt her bending calling out to the metals, she knew that she was not hopeless…

She was powerful.

With a flick of her wrists, two pirates flew to the opposite sides of each other, being dragged by their defiant iron-studded belts. She pushed her open-palmed hands, withdrew her hands to her chest, and did the earlier movement but with her fists, all done with edged force in her movements. The first open palms connected her chi and imposed her will to the stripes of bolted metal reinforcing the deck floor, calling out to every bits of unpurified metal; the second double fists rallied all those trapped earth –trapped like she was- to break free, to dominate, to _bend_, crack, break their cages of metal and wood, to be free.

Free like she was now…

Every bits of metal reinforcements running neatly along the rims, the deck floor, on the edges of the deckhouse broke free with sharp sound of bloody grind; like the highest note of a violin. She literally and very much _broke_ the ship. The whole vehicle shattered; the dominant lumber breaking away from each other as their metal bonding failed them, the engines and cannons cracked and crunched, exploding loudly and catching fire.

Toph jumped and pulled a piece of metal attached to a lumber of wood below her feet, catching it under her feet as she dropped. The lumber failed to hold her weight, slipped into the depth of the ocean, and the yelping Toph regretted breaking the ship. She caught the same piece of lumber as the wetness crept past her chest, touching her bare throat in the process and she was sure she swallowed some water. It was a warm summer day but the water was so cold. Her feet caught no solid footing, like she was stepping on a pile of wet sand that fell under her feet but worse.

She was afraid.

Splashes she felt around her, of people of many makes and shapes, flailing, failing, screaming, yelping…

She did all that too.

_*click*_

Such tiny sound, metal met metal. Tiny small sound that usually accompanied, triggered, the screeching sound of a bullet supercharging inside the chamber of a gun, she knew; she had, with the help of the Hippo, obtained a documentary video of the Fire-Earth Conflict that her father believed was too violent an event for her to learn and know about.

Only the screeching of plasma did not appear.

The sound echoed; Toph detected the source from a strange looking short rifle a boy was holding, from the hammer the sound traveled and vibrated timidly through the three chambers of the barrel, two of which were empty, all the way to the wielder, a boy whose heartbeat was too strong and fast to be normal, whose free arm trembled so very much, muscle straining mightily but failing miserably at his effort to twist the gun to the next chamber of the barrel.

The gun that was aimed at yet another peculiar looking source of echo. A large man, floating in the water, holding on to a piece of lumber like she and the boy, the source was the man's very own arm. It was metal, Toph could feel, but it was… different. It was attached to his arm, like a prosthetic. The whirring and shifting of numerous tiny gears inside the contraption was foreign to Toph. She did not know what it would do, really.

She only care that it was aimed at her direction.

The large man's metal arm was too far to heed her command; the trembling weak boy's gun was not. Toph raised her hand to the boy's direction, gripped, and made a grand waving with her whole arm; Haru's gun barrel twisted by itself.

Haru fired a shot and Toph hoped for the best as she slipped underwater and lamented the fact that her freedom was so short-lived.

* * *

Her throat hurt in the darkness.

"…_has special needs…"_

It was a nice voice of a female; Toph like that voice.

"…_special…. …. ..right! She… …. metal!"_

A boy… maybe. Toph was merely guessing.

She opened her eyes, or she thought she did. It really made no difference to her.

"Did you see her?! She bends metal! That's not normal!"

"Stop being so mean!"

Toph sat up, her throat felt stringy and painful, like she had just swallowed a spoonful of salt. From the vibration, she felt a female slapping her hands to her mouth. The female was standing beside a cot that housed a boy; Toph recognized the boy as the one with that weird gun.

Toph shifted and set her feet on the floor. She tried to get up but wobbled and rammed into a nightstand. The female leaped over the boy in his cot in her hurry to get to Toph and, gently, she helped Toph stand and guided her to sit back on the bed. Toph coughed, hacked actually, and she handed her a cup of warm gingery liquid.

The boy too sat up, groaning all the while.

"Hi, there", he greeted; Toph noticed his heightened heartbeat vibrating weakly through the floor to her feet. He was in pain. "You, uh… you can bend… metal?"

The female by Toph's side made a gesture of slashing her throat, thinking that Toph would not notice. Toph snorted and lied back down, turning her back to the pair. The female loomed over her unsurely.

"W-well, um… I-I'm Suki", she said, gulping once subtly, not subtle enough for Toph though. "And that's Haru. Look, I know you've been through much but… um, don't worry, okay. You're safe now."

She paused, probably waiting for a reply or any kind of response that Toph had no intention to give.

"W-well, um… rest for now. When you're ready, we can… um, talk. Wouldn't that be nice?" she laughed timidly. "Yeah…"

Suki got up and hung around for five seconds more. Receiving the cold shoulder, she turned and walked out of the room, not without whacking Haru on the head.

Toph smiled before she drifted back to sleep.

* * *

_(Thursday, Month 7, Day 4)_

"The Boulder refuses to be kept any longer in this facility. The woman doctor has quite a hand", the muscular earthbender yelped as the old hunched woman grabbed his rump. "The Boulder has never felt so molested before."

"You've got shot on the shoulder", Suki said plainly, crossing her arms.

"The Boulder is doing fine", he said puffing his chest. "The Boulder should see Haru at once and request permission to go back to our headquarters."

"He's with that Bei Fong kid on the beach", Suki said, rubbing her bandaged wrist beneath her glove; Haru's gun proved too much for her to handle (Freudian pun unintended). "He said something about calling him through the phone if we want to talk to him."

"Really?" the Boulder pondered aloud, scratching his chin, having his arse molested by the old lady again. "The Boulder did not see it for himself on account of him being shot and thrown down to the sea. But, is it true that the small blind kind can bend metal?"

"Yeah", Suki said, smiling wispily as she trailed off, reminiscing the display of such unheard of power. "It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it before. Too bad her parents did not see it that way."

Meanwhile, on the beach, Haru, who was still wrapped in bandages, sat on the sand, straightening his legs. The little girl was walking on wet sand near the beachside, letting small waves swept her toes. She had not spoken a single word to anyone after the chewing out she had received from her parents.

Haru looked to his side where a pair of embroidered silken shoes, a shawl, and a wide outer robe lied around. Haru could not understand… _why_? He was a bit apprehensive about the metalbending, of course, but not so much anymore. Haru could not understand why she had to be forbidden to… well, to _be_ her? To be the earthbender she truly was.

Haru himself was an earthbender. Earth is the Element of Might. Earthbender often considered themselves the true bender. Air seeks to compromise with the Element, guiding them with their chi, never forcing, never restricting the Element itself; Water is about harmony between the bender and the Element where the point where both the will of the bender and the Element coexist; Fire focuses on control over the element, control that is not aimed at submission but rather a point where effectiveness of result is achieved. Earth is about force. Earthbender forces the Element to bow down to him, to obey, to submit. Earthbenders _bend_ their elements to their will.

And yet, this amazing earthbender was being bent to somebody else's will.

"Hey", Haru called at the girl who was walking down the shoreline slowly, digging her toes into the wet sand with every step; or he thought he did. He was hesitating and hence his voice was cracked and came out as a rather sharp but low '_ey'_.

Haru was sure his voice was completely overwhelmed by the roaring of the summer waves and the breeze flipping his long untied part of hair but the little girl, Toph, stopped and turned to him anyway. Well, his general direction to be more precise. Haru was sure a noble born such as her would not be so rude as to stare at his shoulder.

"What?" she asked, louder than Haru had spoken, when the latter showed no sign of speaking.

"Oh, um…" Haru rubbed the back of his neck, then slapping it for he had got sand on his skin for doing that. Then, he remembered that he was an earthbender and used his bending instead to deal with the sand. "Well, um, it's lunch time. Shouldn't we go back to the village?"

"You can go if you want", Toph shrugged nonchalantly. "No one's stopping you."

Toph went back to walking around, taking comfort in the grains of wet sand tickling the soles of her feet; Haru rubbed his growling stomach, thinking that Toph was just another snotty rich brat.

* * *

_(Friday, Month 7, Day 5)_

"So… I've been assigned to investigate this, right?"

"Yes, you have."

"And I am to find out where the pirates have run off to—"

"The Boulder thinks it is more like swam off—"

"—and to find out why they made an attempt at the Bei Fongs."

"That is correct."

"Why I don't get is this: why do _I _have to be stuck with _you_?!"

"The Boulder will ignore that hurtful remark and remind you that Oyaji was worried that something might happen to you. Especially considering that you have never left Kyoshi Island before."

"That is not true!" Suki stood up from her cabin bed and stomped her foot, fuming. "I'll have you know that I've been to Chin Village before. It's across the ocean!"

"Yes, Oyaji warned the Boulder that you might use that as an argument", the large man gently shoved the girl's finger pointing at his nose away. "Oyaji urged the Boulder to ask this question: how far have you travelled during the experience?"

"All the way to the outskirt!"

"So, more or less 3 li from the shoreline?"

"What?"

"One and a half kilometers, give or take."

"Hey! That's a lot if you're from Kyoshi Island!"

"Which is why the Boulder must come and act as a guide. The world is full of nasty surprises and evil people, all waiting to take advantage of such a young and naïve lady", the Boulder insisted.

"People like you?" Suki snarled.

"Yes, but that is beside the point", the Boulder puffed his bare chest proudly. "The Boulder has received his order and by the spirits he will obey it."

Suki gritted her teeth, seething, clasping and unclasping her fists. _This guy is impossible_, she thought. Driven, obedient, committed to his work…all to a fault. Suki could not help but wonder if… "You're single, aren't you?"

The Boulder blushed a little. "While the Boulder feels flattered, he must make it perfectly clear that he does not swing that way. The Boulder feels that it is sick and wrong to date a minor."

"What?!" Suki yelped sharply. "I didn't mean _that_! And I'm not a minor! I'm _fifteen_, dammit!"

"That age is still considered minor."

"No, it's not!"

"Sixteen is the coming-of-age."

"Not fourteen…?"

"No."

"Since when?"

"The Boulder would guess since a century ago."

"Rats! Sometimes I hate Kyoshi Island."

"Don't you have the internet in the island?" the Boulder asked as Suki entered the small bathroom of their cabin; the door creaked open only slightly and the bare hand of the girl emerged and handed him her armor and heavy kimono. The Boulder was surprised at how femininely slender her fingers under her gloves actually were.

"We do", Suki's muffled voice came out from behind the door; she snapped her fingers impatiently when the Boulder did not give her the change of clothes fast enough. "But, mostly you have to sail to the middle of the ocean towards Chin Village to get something stable", she grabbed the bundle and closed her door, further muffling her voice. "Old Man Shipu runs a sort of floating cybercafé for online gamers with his ship. His ship is rather big, you see; it can hold about twenty people in the deckhouse. They rent the space, well, a cushion, actually. They bring their own laptop and battery, Old Man Shipu will then ship them to the middle of the ocean and serve simple fish dishes from the fish he catches."

"That seems profitable", the Boulder commented, sitting back on his bed. "And clever."

"Yeah, well, it is", Suki got out from the bathroom, holding some of her clothing articles in her arms. "Especially since Old Man Shipu doesn't even provide the internet. He just drove them to the spot where they can connect to the public server for free. It _is_ clever. The unagi seems to disagree, though. Anyway, some of the gamers are still declared missing and Old Man Shipu lost a leg. But, from what I've heard, he's reopening his business at the end of this summer. Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked as she got out fully dressed.

The Boulder closed his gaping mouth. Suki was no longer wearing her baggy heavy looking Kyoshi Warrior armor and kimono. Kyoshi Island and Chin Village, their destination, were never really at the best of terms. Suki had got out of her usual uniform and was now wearing a short sleeved summer garb that covered up her arms a little past her elbows, a pair of light cloth armbands, a pair of rather baggy and boyish shorts extending below her knees, a pair of simple boots, and a sash she tied with the knot on her side. She hid her fans in her bag and was planning to keep a tiny palm-sized snub-nosed revolver Haru lent her in a tiny waist holster she had worn below her sash.

Oh, and she was not wearing her face paint and Warrior headdress.

"What?" she repeated as she tied part of her hair into a ponytail.

"Nothing. The Boulder is just surprised at how young you look without the makeup", the large man said honestly.

"_*ding* To all passengers, we are approaching the harbor of Chin Village in a short moment. Please be ready for disembarkation. *ding*"_

"_Saved by the bell",_ both the Warrior and the rumbler thought.

They got up. The Boulder slung his bag over his shoulder while Suki was busy stuffing her armor and kimono into her bag. The Boulder mentally winced at how sloppy the work was, physically winced when Suki, in her frustration, sat her butt down, held her opened bag in front of her with both hands, and pushed down the defiant breastplate with her foot before forcing the zipper of her bag to close shut.

Turning to the rumbler, she grinned. Suki picked up her bag and led the way out, only to stop suddenly and put her bag back on the floor, sheepishly muttering that she had forgotten her gun in her bag. The Boulder facepalmed.

"What?" Suki said defensively, pouting a bit like a giddy child. "I don't get out that often, alright!"

She found her tiny gun, the miniscule Lapiz CR, the famed revolver popularized by a spy movie set in the Empty Star Incursion about a female Earth Kingdom spy who infiltrated the ranks of the invading Fire Nation Army, fell in love with some Fire Nation general, torn between love and duty and all that stuff, until the affair was inevitable discovered by the fearsome Dai Li who then hunted her down and executed her for the crime of treason.

The latest remake of the movie came out around three years ago; Kyoshi Island had just gotten their own original reel (through the black market) last winter. Anyway, the female spy was depicted both in the movie and the historical account (Suki had actually looked her up on Wikipedia) as always carrying a Lapiz CR in a hidden crotch holster (the holstering position was what sparked Suki's interest; she still blushed when she thought about the result of her research).

Suki sucked in her gut and stored her gun behind her sash on her holster. Tidying her clothes, she picked up her bag and led the way out to the deck. The traditional metal ferry was clearly of Fire Nation design; the long, sleek deck and pointy bow were too obvious. Also, the deckhands of the steam-powered ship were proudly wearing their red uniform. Some of them were even carrying weapons painfully obvious of Fire Nation design; from the jet black metal with red finish to several of them wearing bandoliers of faintly luminescent red bullets. The news of the brazen pirate attack on the Bei Fong must have spread by now.

Curiously, Suki looked back to the deckhouse, holding her flipping hair off her face. There was crest of green circle with yellow outline bearing a stylized calligraphy of '_深林__工業__' __(Deep Forest Industry)_ that was formed of clusters of falling leaves wrapped elegantly by thin vines with smaller leaves jotting out. The name was colored black with white outlines.

Suki had heard of this Deep Forest Industry. Owned by a young Fire Nation billionaire who was not even twenty yet, the privately run industry had its main aim at producing heavy machineries although they had a rather respectable biochemical division and had branched out to many other areas including food and convenient items. Suki's bag was produced by the Industry and she had just been converted to LeaPhone; a model of flip phone that had the outer appearance of a leaf and buttons with shapes of different fruits and seeds (buttons were customizable through online order), popular among ladies and children under the age of fourteen.

Also, she had heard that Lin, the twenty-sixth, the CEO of the Industry, had been a soldier himself and had carved quite a name for himself. Although, now that Suki thought about it as she stared into the crest of the Deep Forest Industry, his Wikipedia entry of his military service only listed his rank under his father's battalion, the fact that he had been the youngest ever to have ever been accepted formally in the military in the history of Four Nations, and that he resigned as soon as the Decade War was over.

The rest of the long page of the entry said more about his prowess as a daring businessman, taking high-risk trade, losing millions to earn billions, of how some had nicknamed him the 'roller-coaster billionaire' due this fact.

There was not even his real picture on the webpage, only a scan from a tabloid that just happened to had him on the front cover at some point and photos of his branch companies in both Water Tribes and various Earth Kingdom provinces. Suki had to admit, he _looked_ rather young. She remembered the light in his eyes the most, a rather childish kind that Suki found odd. She herself saw the steely determination in her violet orbs whenever she looked at herself in the mirror, and in the eyes of her fellow Warriors. None of them, however, had ever experienced war before.

So, it was understandable if Suki found Lin a little… well, strange, in a good way, and sometimes caught herself wishing she could meet him in person. She wanted to see if the childishly innocent light in his amber eyes was real or just some very fortunate glitch in the camera.

* * *

_(Saturday, Month 7, Day 6)_

"How am I supposed to know that the intercity transport doesn't run on weekends?" Suki said defensively.

"It's common knowledge in the villages and outskirts areas", the Boulder said plainly. "The Boulder learnt of this when he was but a tiny child, when he was still learning how to shoot large pieces of rock at his father."

"Seriously…? Oedipus Complex much?" Suki sneered. "What is it with you and Freudian Theories?"

"The Boulder's father happens to be a respectable earthbending master", the Boulder said defensively. "Perhaps, the Boulder—"

"Daddy!" Suki unexpectedly glommed onto the large man's arms, cutting him midsentence. "Daddy, why don't I take your picture? Here, stand by this statue here."

"Have you lost your marbles?!" the Boulder protested as he was being dragged by the small girl down the steps to a statue of Chin the Great. "What are you—", he was cut short by the force with which the smaller girl shoved him, turned him around, and positioned him roughly beside the tall statue.

"Come on! Please…" Suki begged with a toothy innocent grin and a well-disguised glare. "Mom will love this. So, please… _pleasepleasepleeeeease_….!"

Her glaring eyes added a silent: "…_or else_…"

The Boulder's shoulders slumped, a scowl reigned his bearded face; Suki took it as a yes. Running, well, trotting, actually like an average teenage girl she was not, she took position and aimed with her LeaPhone camera, being overly generous on the zooming. If any of the nearby onlookers actually paid attention to her, they might have thought that she was an exceptionally terrible photographer.

Standing over the square on the cliff overlooking the ocean, Suki zoomed past the Boulder's awkward V sign towards a lone black ship mooring on the harbor below. The pirates might have tried to disguise their cannon hatches by fixing some thick safety bumps tires over them but Suki suspected that regular merchant ships, like the ones it was trying to pass as, were not allowed to have cannons.

She was wrong, of course, as some merchant ships, especially those that sail across the ocean where the threats of piracy is obvious, _can_ request a permit to have cannons fixed in their ships. But, such permit is hard to get and expensive, which includes bribes and grease money, and the bearers of such permit must acquire the cannons from some very specific list of manufacturers only, all of which would pay a certain percentage to the officials under the table, of course, and that percentage came from some extra charge taken from the permit bearers since those manufacturers were also businessmen seeking to profit from the system. Most merchants, therefore, preferred to hire some mercenaries aboard their ships or some privateers to guard their ships.

Anyway, Suki was lucky this time. It _was_ a pirate ship. Her LeaPhone had a rather respectable zoom capacity. At the maximum zoom, the phone camera could barely make the ship tens of feet away looked less like a toy ship in a bottle but it did give her enough view of a single pirate. The large tall pirate with a bionic hand Haru told them about; Suki had been too busy fighting to even notice this specific pirate while the Boulder had been shot and thrown to the ocean and had to be kept on the earthen platform by some Warriors, unable to do much but lying around shooting the speeding pirates with his gun until he ran out of ammo.

She could also see that they were moving something; divers jumped from the railing and emerged seconds later carrying crates and barrels they hauled to their ship. _Can't be legal_, Suki thought as she switched her camera to video and started recording. _And they do it so openly_.

Oh, if Chin Village was in on it, Suki could use this to wipe them out once and for all. The Kyoshi Warrior smirked as she recorded more for about ten seconds. "Aaaand… done!" she declared, closing her phone. "Thanks, Daddy!" she chirped so childishly.

"Anytime… honey", the Boulder played along but with less comfort.

"Wanna see the picture?" she bounced to the rumbler's side before he could react. Suki played her recording to the Boulder as inconspicuously as possible. The Boulder grunted slightly and Suki closed her phone. "Hey, why don't we go to the dock and see if they have that crab-eel Mom loves so much?"

"Yeah, let's", the Boulder was thoroughly impressed at how much force this small girl could generate, to actually pull him around like she did.

They soon found themselves walking past the village's square, the pair of vacationing father-daughter they tried to look like, and separated and assumed a stealthier mode as they descended the earthen steps carved on hill that led down to a dock where a single black ship moored. Skulking low behind barrels and crates on the deck, they stayed still as two pirates walked pass by. One of them was that big one with the bionic arm.

"—Fire Nation as soon as possible", the bionic pirate said. "Our men must be ready to move."

"We can—"

"Enough argument!" a metal robotic hand smashed the crate behind which Suki and the Boulder were skulking; Suki had to stuff her hand over the Boulder's mouth to stop him from yelping. "We have no other choice. Yu Bai Shipping Company ship is leaving tonight. You will lead some of your men and head for Fire Nation. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain", the other pirate, the green-eyed pirate with a scar running across his face between his eyes, growled.

Suki and the Boulder held their breaths as the footsteps echoed away; the only figure heading towards the steps to the village was the smaller pirate with green eyes and scar though. The bionic-armed pirate seemed to be walking back to the ship. The two intruders exhaled in relief.

"What should we do?" the Boulder asked. "They are going to the Fire Nation."

"Nah, I think it's just that small fry", Suki shrugged as she took out her gun. "And besides", she pulled out the cylinder and six green luminescent circles peeked out. "That's Fire Nation's problem. Our job is here. We should sneak into the cabin and see if we can find some documents or something. Anything that could tell us who hired these people to attack the Bei Fongs."

She fixed her gun and started to creep out. The Boulder followed her but made no move to unleash his gun. Suki halted and shot him a furious look.

"The Boulder has used up his ammo during the pirate attack", the man said. "He could not find any replenishment anywhere in Kyoshi Island."

"You must hate our Island now, huh?" Suki scoffed.

"The Boulder is in no habit to badmouth somebody else's hometown… but, _yes_, very."

"Welcome to rural life", Suki led their stealthy march towards the moored ship. "Authentic Earth Kingdom experience."

They managed to gain entry through the gangplank without a hitch, surprisingly since Suki had expected the Boulder to make an unnecessary noise when they darted through the wooden contraption. She was amazed at how stealthy the big guy could be.

That was, of course, until the big idiot bumped into a pirate smoking a cigarette leaning on the railing. Bumping into a crate that crashed down and made some noise, Suki could understand; bumping into the lever that held some cargo floating in the net over their heads? Maybe. Bumping into a pirate? Oh, idiocy personified.

The small thin pirate screamed. "Intruders!" at the top of his very healthy lungs despite his smoking habit. The Boulder slugged him on the jaw and that shut the pirate's down.

As soon as the unconscious small thin pirate, and his loosened two teeth, touched the floor though, Suki and the Boulder found themselves surrounded from all sides by many pirates aiming many weapons at them. From makeshift melee weapons like broomsticks and harpoons, to firearms of many calibers, Suki and the Boulder only had the tiny Lapiz between them.

It was only natural for them to raise their hands and surrender.

Coming through the circle of pirates was the captain. His bionic hand and fingers disintegrated into plates of metals and reassembled to form a cannon barrel. He pointed the weapon at the two intruders, who were standing back to back, especially at the girl who still clutched her revolver.

"Fools", the captain sneered. "Stowing aboard a pirate ship? Brave! Toss your weapon, girl."

"Hmm? Oh, this little thing?" Suki asked casually, nudging her head at the revolver on his right hand. "Sure."

She dropped the gun but kicked it up before it touched the floor. While everybody's attention was occupied by the gun, she dashed forward towards the captain, slid past his legs, and rolled on her back, pushed herself up while kicking the captain in the back with both her feet; the Boulder caught the revolver and the captain who stumbled his way, squeezed the captain in a headlock and held the gun to his skull.

Casually, Suki walked up to a nearby pirate, liberated him of his rifle, flicked his nose for good measure, and walked back to support the Boulder. Upon reaching the hostage situation though, the Boulder forced the captain to his knee by kicking him on behind the knee. Swiftly, the Boulder snatched the rifle and handed the revolver to the girl.

At Suki's frown, the Boulder admitted rather sheepishly. "The Boulder finds it difficult to use a gun of such miniscule size. He can barely squeeze his finger into the trigger guard."

"Oh, lucky us they're stupid", Suki sneered at the captain's scowl. "Now, let's make this easy. Who hired you to attack the Bei Fongs?"

The captain laughed once. Twice. And more as it echoed throughout the cacophony of pirates present in the vicinity. "Is that why you are here, little girl?" he rasped. "The Bei Fongs have many enemies. Take your pick."

"I won't ask again", Suki barked, the Boulder nudged the captain on the back of his neck with the rifle; the pirate captain tensed up. "Tell me now!"

"Foolish little girl", the captain snarled, grinning wildly. "You will regret ever crossing our paths", he warned right before a commotion ensued from the village.

* * *

"I knew I'd find you here", Haru said as a greeting as he walked up to the beach. The Young Lady Bei Fong was doing her usual beachside walking again. "It's past lunchtime. Aren't you hungry?"

The Young Lady said nothing. In fact, she had not said much ever since the stern scolding she had received regarding her putting herself in danger during the pirates attack.

"You know, maybe we can just… um, talk?" Haru began awkwardly. "Look, I may not know if… oh, god, I wish Suki was here?" he muttered the last part; yeah, lots of good it did him. Toph could still hear him.

Toph still said nothing, still walking around aimlessly digging her toes deep beneath wet sand; the feeling of wet sand lodged between her toes was something she swore she would never take for granted anymore. Her father had threatened to forbid her from taking earthbending lessons anymore.

Not that it mattered, but still…

Only when Haru, either due to growing awkwardness of sheer boredom and annoyance, shifted the dry sand beneath his toes, hardening it, and playfully tapped them with his foot, did Toph turn to him and speak for the second time since she stepped foot on this island.

"You're an earthbender", she said, both a question and a statement.

"Yeah", Haru replied before a sandblast caught him on the chest.

Toph never thought she could grin this much when she said. "Fight me."

And she was sure Haru would not grin back when he said. "Okay."

She was wrong on both occasion, of course.

Toph leaped sideways as a ripple of sand trailed her way; she retaliated by sending a wave of sand similar to the one Haru sent her way. Haru stood his ground and dissolved the sand into two waves that he redirected one by one; Toph called forth a sand wall to hold against the blasts. Before the loose grains of sand could touch her face, she condensed the wall into a solid sandstone and sent it flying towards Haru. Haru caught it and fell into a trap; Toph made a simple tap with her heel and the sand beneath Haru sank, burying him underground until only his head remained on the surface.

Spitting out sand that entered his mouth, Haru conceded defeat. "I think we should have discussed some ground rules before we start. Now, can you please get me out, Young Lady? I think there's a sand-crab crawling up my pants aiming for some very private area."

Toph grinned. "My name's Toph", she muttered with the intention of saying it out loud.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My name's Toph" she repeated louder and felt freer; freer than she had ever felt. "Toph. Stop calling me Young Lady or I'll let the crab crawl up your pants and cut off your _(censored)_."

"…I'm sorry, did you just say _(censored)_?" Haru gaped.

"Yup", Toph grinned.

"You are one weird Young Lady, Toph", Haru sighed.

Toph stomped lightly and the sand beneath Haru pushed him, and the crab, up. Haru had barely enough time to dust his pants and kick off the sand, and the crab, from inside his trousers when Toph shushed him. Haru froze and Toph strained her ears; when she pushed her hair off her ear, Haru could see it wiggled.

"Come on", she said, dragging the boy by the wrist. "Something came up."

They ran towards the village; Toph's shoes and outer robe lied forgotten on the sand. Haru was truly impressed at the Young Lady's sharp hearing of the blaring bullhorn that was apparently attached to a radio that he only started to hear as they reached the outskirt of the square. He did not have time voice his praise, though, as Poppy and Lao Bei Fong ran up to Toph, and began coddling her, voicing their concern over the news of the radio about a pirate raid on Chin Village and Toph not wearing shoes outdoor.

Haru found the view of an earthbender, a younger earthbender, who had just kicked his butt in a duel being treated like some helpless five years old rather than an obvious earthbending master she was a little off. But, then again, they lived in two different worlds. When Haru was her age, he was already helping his father in the warfront, learning how to shoot, helping around maintaining the men's equipment and stuff. Life had already been harsh.

"_It's terrible in here, Lee!"_ an onsite radio reporter said through the cacophony of explosions, shouting, and screaming. _"The pirates are all armed. The local police force is_—_eeeek_!" an explosion occurred closer than rest. _"— the police force are being pushed back as we speak!"_

"_Tongxun, can you tell us how many pirates are there attacking the village. I think our listeners would love to hear it",_ Lee, the radio broadcaster, was the sheer force of joy and sunshine.

"_I don't know, a few dozens maybe!"_ Tongxun, the hapless female reporter managed before an explosion drowned her voice.

"_I'm sorry. Did you say a few dozens?"_ Lee asked again, still a bundle of professional joy. _"Could you be a bit more specific?"_

"_Well, I'm sorry I forgot my freaking abacus at home!" _the female reporter barked.

"_That is fine, Tongxun. Now, what about the number of the police force currently engaging in the battle with the pirates?"_

"_A dozen. I count!"_

"_Oh, dear me, you guys are screwed"_, Lee attempted a joke and played a laugh track. _"Do you happen to know why the village is targeted? Maybe you can try interviewing some of the locals."_

"_I can try. Oh, here comes the Chief of Police! Excuse me, sir! Sir!"_ they could somehow hear her footsteps tapping away on the cobblestone despite the sound of the battle out there. _"Sir! Sir, can you—"_

"_What the— get that thing off my face— *bzztt*!"_

"_Oh, dear me. It seems like we have lost contact with our onsite reporter Tongxun. We will try to get the line back up, but in the meantime, enjoy these few select songs from Chong and the Nomads and, oh, a classic from the Ba Sing Se Castrati Orchestra, brought to you by Xiang Gou, freshly squeezed app—"_

Oyaji walked up towards the circle forming around the pole bearing the four-corner bullhorn. The atmosphere grew denser, even Toph felt a tingling on her toes.

"It would seem that Chin Village is in danger", the elder started calmly and he could see the faces of nonchalance among his villagers. "I understand that the ongoing feud has left our two villages at each other throat for the past few centuries."

A communal murmur of agreement among the villagers ensued.

"However", Oyaji silenced them with a raised hand. "It shows little of our character if we abandon them in this time of need. I say we dispatch the Kyoshi Warriors to help them fight off the pirates. What say you?"

A silence ensued. One '_aye'_ broke the dome of silence and many more occurred. Lao Bei Fong, however, protested.

"What about us?" he argued fearfully. "Who's going to protect us?"

"The pirates are over there, Lord Bei Fong", Oyaji explained calmly. "And besides, you still have your guards."

"We will be ready for them this time, sir", the Bei Fong guard with the deep booming voice reassured the man. Lao Bei Fong still looked uncertain but nodded his agreement.

"Oyaji, what about transport", one of the Warriors asked, the communal murmur from before returned. "The last of the ferries had left this evening."

The murmur grew louder; one of the villagers fainted on the spot after a show of flailing arms and foaming of his mouth. Nobody seemed to care about him and Toph found this interesting.

"What about our fishing ships", Oyaji turned to a specific group of villagers huddling together; none of the fishermen seemed eager to volunteer their ships but one.

"You can use mine!" Shippu, the one-legged old man, stepped… well, _hopped_ forth with his crutches.

"Good", Oyaji smiled at the old man.

"But, there is one problem…"

"Yes…?"

"It's out of fuel."

"Oh, no."

And Old Man Shippu owned the only mechanized ship in the island too. He usually relied on a third-party distributor who shipped him a few gallons of fuel each month. Ever since the unagi attacked his ship, he had stopped the flow while his ship, and his leg, recovered and he had not yet struck another deal with the distributor.

"Wait", Toph called out suddenly, ignoring the many gasp that was directed at her from all around. "This ship of yours, does it run on propellers?"

"Yes", Old Man Shippu drawled.

"Say", Toph grinned. "They wouldn't happen to be made of metal, would they?"

* * *

The Boulder had his back on the rock wall and was reloading his bolt-action carbine that one of the injured policemen dropped –his seized rifle had been abandoned due to it being the antiquated model that could house one bullet at a time which he had fired at the escaping pirate captain- when a grenade landed right in front of him. The earthbender promptly stomped his foot, bouncing the grenade up with his bending; Suki caught it and threw it away.

The grenade flew and exploded above the crossfire ground between the police and some civilians (plus a crew of radio reporters), holding the ground around the Shrine of Chin the Great, and the invading pirates taking covers behind their speeder-bikes and some stolen cars and other vehicles they had lined up for defensive purposes.

"The Boulder suggests you switch to a rifle", the earthbender said as he watched Suki reloading her Lapiz. "Or stop using the speedloader so unnecessarily. What is the point of fixing the bullets on the speedloader right before you reload your gun? Would it not be more time efficient to load them _directly_ into your gun?"

"I'm sorry! I've never been to a war, okay!" Suki barked, pale-faced as she bounced the speedloader against the Boulder's head.

"The Boulder has", the Boulder said grimly as he cocked his rifle, peered over the cover, shot once, and went back in. "It was worse."

"Oh… sorry", Suki muttered, finishing reloading her gun in silence.

"Just aim and shoot", the boulder said out of the blue.

"What?" Suki looked up to him.

"Just aim and shoot", the Boulder repeated. "Shooting with a rifle is not much different from shooting with a handgun. Just aim and shoot. The posture might be different but you will get used to it after a few shots."

"Um… thanks", Suki smiled earnestly. She got up, shot wildly from her revolver, hitting none, and got back in under the cover. "Why can't people just stopped when they invented swords and shields. I want my shield."

"Sometimes, the Boulder feels the same sentiment", the large man too dived back in to reload his rifle. One of the policemen to their side pushed a crate of ammo to him. "These firearms are too much for us benders sometimes."

"Yeah, imagine how we _non-benders_ feel", Suki chuckled.

The Boulder chuckled too. It turned to a laughter that was joined by some nearby policemen.

"Oh, man", Suki rubbed her hurting side. "Hey", she turned to a nearby policeman on her left. "Where's the reinforcement?"

"…oh", a look of astonishment on the young freckled face was soon replaced by realization. "We… had not thought of calling for reinforcement."

"What?!" there was no trace of mirth left on the Warrior's face. "You guys are stupid, you know that?!"

"What was that?!" the policeman too turned furious. "What did you— did you just insult an officer of the— *gasp* you're from that hick-town Kyoshi Island, aren't you?!"

"You snotty mainlanders!"

"Insolent backwater people!"

"Hey, look", the Boulder pointed at the ocean where a ship was speeding towards the village, a ship bearing a flag of Kyoshi Island's double golden fans.

On the said ship, Haru was tightening his armguard. "I can't believe you actually said that", he commented at Toph who was making a rapid gripping, hands-flowing, and sharp punching moves over and over again to move the ship's propellers.

"Well, nothing they can't handle", Toph said offhandedly.

"_I'm sorry, Mom, Dad",_ she remembered herself saying. _"The little helpless girl you think I am… is just not me. I'm not helpless!"_

_Yup_, she thought again, reassuring herself as she brought the ship to halt at the dock right beside the black pirate ship. _Nothing they can't handle_.

"Whoa!" Haru halted her, grabbing her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going, Toph?"

"I can help", Toph protested but neither Haru nor the descending Kyoshi Warriors would hear her.

"I don't think that's a good idea", Haru said firmly. "You've promised your parents that you would stay out of the fight."

"Actually, _you_ promised that" Toph pointed out. "You being my bodyguard and all. And besides, would you really let Suki alone in there, trapped between pirates and the whole village who hated her gut simply for being from Kyoshi Island?"

"…Good point", Haru muttered.

"So, go", Toph said as if it was the most obvious thing to do. "I'll stick close."

A promise delivered with such grin is not to be trusted. Haru did not realize this.

"Be careful, okay", Haru said before he jumped over the railing.

Toph, however, had a better idea. She jumped and the moment her feet touched solid ground, she, Haru, and the Kyoshi Warriors found themselves soaring through the air, propelled by the very earth beneath their feet. Flying through the smoke filled air, soaring up nearly forty feet to the edge of the tall cliff. Over it actually, as they landed in the square-turned-battleground, where a small temple and a statue was surrounded by earthbent wall and sand sacks, defended by a handful of people.

Toph, Haru, and the Warriors landing sporadically behind the encircling pirates, hence trapping them in a pincer, helped turned the table around.

The Warriors worked in pairs, shield and katana supporting shield and gun. Pirates after pirates fell one by one.

"A little warning next time", Haru shouted as he summoned an earth wall that held against a bullet fired from a musket one of the pirates shot at him; he kicked the wall and launched the piece of earth to the man.

"Where's the fun in that?" Toph chuckled, bending, believe it or not, the shield of a Kyoshi Warrior to defend herself from a 'clicking' and 'splashing' of force she felt coming towards her; she could not and had no intention to pry the shield from the Kyoshi Warrior so she just dragged the Warrior's whole existence to the spot between her and the bullet shot. "Sorry, thanks!" she said to the bewildered Warrior.

The Warrior raised her shield to cover from several more shots; Toph leaped over her with the intention to repay the debt. She stomped mightily upon landing, receiving the feedback that was amplified by the clicking of firing hammer and the supercharging hissing and whirring of crystal bullets turning into plasma bolts.

Toph pushed the back of her hands up, mimicking the paw of a badger-mole; each and every pirate had their guns moving upwards, pointing away from their would-be targets as they discharged. Their split second bewilderment was soon turned against them by the defenders who jumped over their barricade and started brawling the pirates in a closer quarter combat.

"No way!" Toph exclaimed as she noticed a specific combination of heartbeat and footsteps that only one person he knew had. "Is that—"

"The Boulder is surprised to see the Blind Bandit here!"

"The Blin— hey! Be nice to our customer!" Haru chided.

"No, no, actually she—"

—BOOM—

"Look, can you _ladies_ talk later?!" Toph yelled as she sent several pieces of rock flying to the large pirate captain, all of which broke into harmless pieces upon collision with his broad muscular chest. He quickly raised his bionic arm and Toph did not need eyes to know that energy was charging in there. Toph quickly grabbed the arm with her bending and waved it away; the smooth lurch was halted into a strained pushing war as the pirate fought back to regain control.

Haru and the Boulder, thank be the Seventh Heaven, had the sense to shoot the captain with their guns. Honor be damned, they both thought. With their leader lying bleeding from his gut, the rest of the pirates faltered and were soon either captured and subdued or chased out.

That, of course, brought an awkward standoff with Haru, Toph, and the Boulder standing literally in the middle of the crossfire fifteen minutes later.

"What are you Kyoshi Island people doing here?!" the Chin Village leader, Mayor Tong, a tall stocky man with slightly tanned skin, bushy black browns and sideburns, and long twin moustache spat angrily.

"We're here to save your sorry village!" Suki, backed by her Warriors, spat back just as heatedly.

"I knew it! You're from Kyoshi Island!" the policeman from before suddenly exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Suki stomped her foot angrily.

Needless to say, it paved way to a mass bickering witnessed by several tied-up pirates and the three strangers, none of which were too eager to stand on the ground zero where words of insults were exchanged between two groups of armed people. Especially when the red-faced Mayor Tong was waving a sub-machine gun that could shoot 800 crapholes per minute and Suki looked like she would have spat fire if had she been a firebender.

All those bickering were hurting Toph's ears.

"Enough!" she shouted, stomping mightily, causing a shockwave that staggered everyone.

"Wh-who are you?!" Mayor Tong exclaimed as he regained his bearing, pointing his gun at the small girl. "This is none of your concern! This Kyoshi Islanders dare come to our village, dressed like tha-that blasphemous… _(starts with a 'b', rhymes with 'itch', goes well with 'blasphemous')!_ They have stolen our land –literally stolen out land!-, refused to recognize our rightful ownership of their island, and their Kyoshi brutally murdered our beloved King in cold blood!" he made a flourished gesture to the statue of Chin the Great that, for some reason, remained untouched during the chaos

"That's a load of lie! Kyoshi saved us from your tyrant king!" a random Kyoshi Warrior shouted back just as angrily. "Without her, Chin the Conqueror would have destroyed every bit of real authentic culture of our great Earth Kingdom!"

"Chin the _Great_ would have brought unity!"

"Mindless uniformity is not unity!"

The Boulder sighed. "This is why I switched from Political Science", he confessed to Haru.

"Everybody, listen up!" Haru shouted over the noise to no avail. "People! Listen!"

The earth roared as a pillar shot up from Toph's feet, hoisting her up; it sank back down and cracked the earth beneath their feet, creating a wave that left fissures at its wake. No one, not Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Mayor Tong and the Chin Villagers, not the innocent bystanders like Haru, the Boulder, Tongxun and her crew were left standing.

Not even the statue of Chin the Great. It was uprooted from its base, much to the horror of Mayor Tong, and now stood loopsided. By the way, the shrine was in no better condition either since it had collapsed from Toph's earthbending feat. Toph stomped and cracked the already cracked ground beneath the marble statue of the Conqueror, all eight foot of it (three of them was the cylindrical pedestal that sort of dignified the man and his historical Napoleon Complex), and tossed it to the ocean below.

The Chin Villagers shrieked in horror and the Kyoshi Islanders cheered.

"Oh, just wait for it!" Toph barked at the cheering Kyoshi Warriors who promptly gasped and fell silent. "I'm gonna do the same to your Kyoshi statue!"

She glared at them collectively, Kyoshi Warriors and Chin Villagers alike. Her unseeing misty green eyes were as alive as they would be had they been sighted. Fire burnt in them and they could see it despite her disability and her short stature. After all, if a tiny twelve year old could lift and throw heavy marble statue more than twice her height and hundred her weight with her bending alone, _solo_, you do not mess with said twelve year old.

"Chin, Kyoshi! What's the matter with you?!" Toph screamed, cheeks flustered with anger. "What's so great about Chin, huh?! He was just a short impotent guy overcompensating for his lack of manly features by growing some ridiculous beard and bringing war and carnage to our planet! And Kyoshi?! Hah!" she aimed her next ear-searing scolding to Suki and the Warriors. "An ugly old maid with a mild case of gigantism who grew old and died alone because no one wanted to marry her!"

The Warrior from before who argued with Mayor Tong muttered, "She had a daughter", so softly no one but Toph heard her.

But, yeah, Toph heard. "Her daughter was adopted, you dunderbrains! Study your history already!"

Haru's and Suki's jaws dropped to the floor as their image of nobility and the word 'well-mannered' that seemed to go with it shattered. The Boulder was quite accustomed to the harsh verbal might of the Blind Bandit, having been victimized by it himself, and was more or less unfazed.

Still fuming, Toph pointed at the pile of tied up pirates, missed by a foot or two, and got Haru's right knee instead. No one had the gut to correct her. "Today, you two villages stood together and… and see for yourselves what you have accomplished together!"

All eyes darted towards the captured pirates.

"They outnumbered you ten to one", if anyone was wondering how a blind girl could make such accurate calculation, they did not show it. "And you guys won! Don't you see! United, you guys—"

_United… like them._

"_You are blind, Toph!"_ her father had screamed; he had never raised his voice at her. _"A-a-and you are weak! Fragile! What possessed you that—"_, he was never rendered so speechless too.

"_Toph, dear",_ her mother had come to her father's aid. _"What your father is trying to say is that… well, perhaps it's time you take a break from earthbending."_

"_We have given you too much lenience",_ her father had decided, back to his firm non-compromising self. _"The moment we get back to Gaoling, you are to remain in your room and never leave without our express permission! Earthbending and any outdoor activities will be closely monitored if not banned entirely. Is that understood?"_

But then, ever the bleeding heart, her mother had added. _"It's for your own good, dear."_

_United… like her parents. Against her…_

She looked down slightly; tickling her forehead was her bang, locks of hair she knew had come undone from her neat bun from all the fighting and jumping, running around. She would normally blew them off but, that evening, she opted to let it stay, obscuring her eyes from the spectators, everybody else out there she knew still had their eyes trained on her. She opted to let her hair hide her tears.

"Haru", she called, voice softer but they all heard her all the same. "I want to go home."

Haru took a few seconds to overcome the lump in his throat. "Okay. Let's go back to the ship."

"No, not Kyoshi Island. I want to go home to Gaoling", Toph could feel sobs wrenching his throat, catching her unaware in her chest. They must have seen her twitch too, she knew.

"Um… but, Toph, your parents…" Haru said uneasily, exchanging awkward glances with Suki and the Boulder. "A-and… uh, you sort of… you know, drove us here. We have no fuel, remember?" Haru grimaced; Suki and the Boulder frowned at him.

Without a single more word, Toph jumped over the cliff; she used her bending to surf down the surface of the cliff down to the docking area below. Haru and the Boulder mimicked her action and said no words to her as they joined her in the ship. The Kyoshi Warriors, opting for the more non-benders friendly route, arrived later with a gallon of fuel. Suki quietly informed them that Mayor Tong provided the fuel for them and they would be taking care of the pirates.

They sailed back to Kyoshi island in silence.

Most of the Warriors kept their gazes away from Toph. They seemed to still be a bit touchy due to Toph's outburst. It was understandable; Toph's fiery outburst regarding Chin and Kyoshi was the real world equivalent of calling Jesus a weed-smoking schizophrenic and Virgin Mary a whore. Haru and the Boulder were outsiders and they did not care much about Kyoshi-Chin feud; such is the nature of Earth Kingdom. Suki was torn and confused and wanted nothing more but to crawl up her bed and go to sleep.

"Hey", Suki called after a while, approaching Toph with a coat she had extracted from her bag. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", Toph started gruffly but as the older girl draped the coat over her shoulders, she mellowed but still a bit gruff. "Thanks."

"You're welcome", Suki smiled. "And… thanks."

Toph showed no reaction for a second or two. Then, she smiled and punched Suki on the arm.

* * *

_(Monday, Month 7, Day 8)_

"I could have helped with that", Toph said, straightening her legs, curling her bare toes as she sat on the floor at Haru's right, looking all kind of weird since she was once again wearing her fancy clothes and hair but sitting on the ground like a peasant.

It was a midsummer, humid midsummer day. The sun was out in the earnest but Mother Earth provided a sliver of cloud and generous amount of salty breeze from the south. Toph had expressed her desire to go out and experience this fascinating weather; Gaoling was a plain area with no sea nearby and the wind always smelt like grass. Suki was not so fond of having her metal armor turned into torturous corset by the Young Lady Bei Fong and had requested permission from Lao Bei Fong herself. She had even brought Haru and the Boulder as extra reassurance for the parents.

They were sitting around the pole that house the statue of Kyoshi; no, Toph did not throw this one to the ocean like she did Chin's statue. The fact that the statue of Kyoshi was wooden played a key role in her decision to spare this statue. Toph closed her eyes and pressed her head back to the cold surface of the wooden pole. Haru sitting by her right was busy modifying the three-barreled rifle he had kept from the first battle with the pirate with the help of someone he was speaking to on his earpiece.

"_Shh_! I can't hear a thing", Haru shushed her, pressing his earpiece deeper into his ear. "Yeah, Teo… you're breaking up! So, I just filed the barrel to make it… Teo? You hear me?"

"_*bzzt*… yeah. Jus… … … ..rrel! The mecha… is... less the same….. As long as the chamber is… … to … acco… the bullet, it should be alri…"_

"What?" Haru shouted.

"He said _'just widen the barrel. The mechanism is more or less the same. As long as the chamber is wide enough to accommodate the bullet, it should be alright'_. Pay attention, will you?" Toph elbowed him. "And besides, I can do it easily. Gimme that!"

"No!" Haru wrenched the gun and his tools away before Toph could snatch it, accidentally nudging Suki on his right. Suki was eating some meatball skewers and spilt some gravy on her lap thanks to Haru. "I want to do this the right way. This is an antique."

"It's a piece of junk", Suki elbowed him too, hard. Wiping the peanut gravy off her lap, she quipped. "Just throw that thing away."

"No, this has a sentimental value. And what do you mean 'junk'? You gave this to me", Haru frowned deeply at the Warrior. "I was terribly wounded and you handed me a 'junk' before taking my gun away? Oh, _wow_… How nice of you."

"Well… all's fair in love and war?" Suki grinned.

"_*bzzt*…ey! Su…! Is tha… Suki? Hey, Suki! SUKI!"_

"Ow, stop yelling in my ear!" Haru shouted back to the earpiece.

"Hey, Teeeoo!" Suki yelled to the earpiece, and Haru's ear. "How's it rolling?!"

"'How's it_ roll—'!_" Haru gasped furiously, covering his earpiece; Teo was laughing at the other end but Haru ignored him. "Oh, _wow_! Can you be _less_ sensitive?"

"What?" Suki asked innocently; Haru found her grin especially creepy. "Teo doesn't mind."

"Please don't smirk like that. You like some sort of winter ghost with your face full of Kyoshi makeup", Haru said bluntly.

"What Kyoshi makeup?" Toph piped in as Haru suffered a karate chop on his head.

"Hey, the big guy's been quiet for a while", Suki nudged her chin at the Boulder sitting on Toph's left.

"He's sleeping", Toph shrugged; the Boulder's head turned her way and droplets of sticky drool dripped to her shoulder. An evil smirk appeared on her face suddenly. "Say, the ocean is…" Toph licked her finger and tested the wind. "… that way, I believe?"

Five seconds later…

"AAARRRRGGGHHH! The Boulder doesn't like swim—"

—SPLASH!—

"Hell hath no fury like an angry Bei Fong", Haru sagely commented.


	3. Chapter 3 - Festival

**Chapter 3 – Festival**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fingers I'm using.

* * *

_(Southern Water Tribe, Monday, Day 1, Month 7)_

"_Mom… I'm scared…"_

"_Go find your dad, sweetie. I'll handle this."_

Katara woke up with a start, shooting up so quickly her spine hurt. The beating drum in her chest that was her heart ached like there was venom burning through her vein, eating her from the inside. She sobbed once as she curled her legs to her chest, burying her face to her knees. She cried long and silently until she felt her tears seeping into the fabric of her navy blue pajama trousers.

Hiccupping once as her sobs subsided, Katara fell to her side, still hugging her legs. On the nightstand beside her bed was a picture of a woman with her tanned skin and blue eyes but with black hair none of her children inherited. Katara bit her trembling lip, shivering despite the soothing warmth associated with crying. She reached out to the blue pearl-framed picture.

Her alarm clock blared its usual annoying ringing.

Katara chuckled. Sniffing back her leftover sobs, she reached instead for her metallic box of alarm clock, giving it a good whack to silence it; her brother Sokka made it for her as a birthday gift and, like many of his creations, needed a good measure of physical violence to deactivate thoroughly.

"Good one, Mom", she whispered, smiling brightly still with red puffy eyes at her mother's picture.

Stretching her arms and back, Katara threw her heavy quilt off of her. She walked to the window of her room, rubbing her eyes and dragging her feet on the rug. She opened the window and let the rare treat of summer –morning sunlight- hit her face. She looked down from the second floor her room was on and walking through the walkway were two slightly hunched grey-haired old ladies; one was slightly plump with hair loopies and blue eyes, the other was skinnier with hair partially tied into a bun and a pair of serene grey eyes. Both were carrying groceries.

"Good morning, Gran Gran, Sifu Hama!" Katara called and waved.

"Why, good morning, dear!" Hama, the skinnier old lady, waved back, smiling brightly.

Katara withdrew but left her window open; being an emotional sort of person she found the golden sunlight falling upon the blue ice-stone of her family house mesmerizing. If the disproportionately tiny monitor the size of an office name tag on the alarm clock, which was as big as a toaster, was not showing 8:20, she would actually just sit and admire the color of the contrast.

She quickly went for her change of clothes and ran to her bathroom to get ready for the day, cursing Sokka and his always-defective-eventually inventions all the while.

She got out fifteen minutes later, waterbending her hair dry. She did her hair into her usual long braid and twin loopies, and went for her books on her desk. Stuffing them into her bag messily, she unplugged the charger from her cellphone. Adding the last touch of on her hair loopies, she put on her silken choker of her necklace before she exited her room and paced to her brother's.

On the way to Sokka's room, she shifted through the touchscreen of her phone almost instinctively, going for the app that screamed _'Danger! Danger! Danger!'_ so very loudly and urgently as she reached her brother's messy room.

Sokka screamed like a little girl as manly as he could and hit the floor, grabbing his boomerang, and covering his head with his arms as if he was in the battlefield bracing himself for an explosion; the Ocean knows why he kept his boomerang under his pillow.

"Katara!" he protested, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth.

Katara simply smirked from the doorframe; yeah, like she would enter the man cave, emphasis on _cave_. As if the visual presentation was not unpleasant enough, the whiff of the aroma would certainly act to keep any female of the species away.

"Get up already", Katara chided, hands on her hips. "You have to drive me today, remember?"

Sokka simply mumbled something incoherent before dragging his blanket with one hand and his pillow with the other and simply snuggled the two objects to himself, falling asleep almost instantly with his butt sticking in the air.

Water Tribes are ice planets; vegetation and minerals are scarce and mostly came from underwater. Over the years, the Water Tribe had come to learn the way to harness the hundreds year old chunk of ice that, tempered by the weather and forged by the seasons, had turned into a solid substance resembling coral or stone but carrying with it a faint white-blue color wrapped around a deep blue core. They called it ice rock; not very creative but fitting.

The method of mining ice rock usually comes in two folds. The first part is the removal of the outer bluish white layer. Waterbending or the use of machineries could accomplish this; waterbending is slower but preferable because the deep-blue core had mineralized over the years and is unbendable. Machines would just drill through it.

The second part is the shaping process. The bluish white outer part would then be deep-frozen into shapes; it would retain its hardness and invulnerability to melting process through the conventional means. Only some decent bending and intense heat of at least 4000 C could melt the ice brick. The deep-blue mineralized core is the material people use to make their bullets and to power their crystal-powered generator. Water crystals are valued for this purpose, and for their beauty. A 1x1 meter carved crystal of Northern Water Tribe City was sold in an auction in Ba Sing Se the other day for over one million gold pieces.

Katara, despite being a decent waterbender, would need to exert herself quite a lot to melt a whole brick in ten tries. She was good enough to extract about a glassful of water from Sokka's ceiling with a simple wrist movement and full concentration though, and she brought it splashing down her brother's face.

"Up. Now", she growled at her spluttering brother.

Katara picked up her bag and made her way to the kitchen. Her Gran Gran was there, busy cooking breakfast as usual. Hama was sitting at the table with a cup of tea. Katara approached and bowed politely to Hama; a traditional Water Tribe bow with the hand gesture of right hand grasping left fist with the tip segments of the right fingers aligning with the left knuckle. It is to mimic the Water Emblem of Moon and Ocean.

"Katara", Hama smiled. "Come, join me."

Katara sat down, placing her bag on an empty chair. Hama set her cup for her and, using her bending, pulled a blob of clear brown seaweed tea from the mouth of the teapot and passed the steaming orb of tea to the girl. Katara received it with precise control of her chi, aligning the intensity of her energy with her sifu's. She claimed the orb completely and settled it gently in her cup, earning her an approving nod from the old master.

Smiling, Katara picked up her teacup and took a sip. Her Gran Gran Kanna had just plopped a piece of baked seal blubber on Katara's plate when Sokka arrived at the stairs, sloppily dressed in his Warrior armor, hopping as he tried to put on his right boot. Needless to say, he tripped on the last step and landed on his face. Rubbing his sore face, Sokka sat up and grunted. Hakoda, the man of the house, descended the stairs after Sokka with more grace and tidier clothes, patted Sokka's head on his way and, arriving at the dining table, stopped by Katara's side, all the while talking to the phone. It sounded important.

"Hotel?" he said with utter disbelief. "No! Nonsense! No, no, no! Please, I don't mind in the slightest. I'll have someone picking you up", he paused as the person on the other end spoke. "Oh, I see. Well, I can—", he halted, letting the other person speak. "Oh, alright, if that is the case. I'll still have you here for the duration of your stay, I insist. I'll text you our address. Your chauffer should know the way."

Katara could hear the other person laughed; Hakoda chuckled himself. "I'll look forward to meeting you as well. Have a pleasant flight."

Hakoda turned off his phone and landed a peck on his daughter's head. "Mother", he said to Kanna who arrived with his breakfast. "Remember when I said something about the CEO of Deep Forest Industry visiting us?"

"Yes, shouldn't he arrive this evening?" Kanna asked, adding some extra blubber on Sokka's plate. "I have prepared the guest room for him. I do hope he will be comfortable here."

"Well, he seems to have forgotten to consider the time difference between Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe when he arranged his itinerary", Hakoda smiled fondly at the sight of Sokka being smacked in the head by Kanna for eating like a rabid hog-monkey. "Anyway, he will arrive earlier, around noon. He said something about an urgent matter coming up in one of the branch offices here so he will have to take care of that as soon as he lands."

"I heard he's a playboy", Katara piped in, bending tea into her father's cup. Sokka, with puffy cheeks, held up his cup hopefully but was completely ignored.

Hakoda laughed boisterously. "Don't believe everything you read on the tabloid, Katara."

"I do _not_", Katara huffed. "Besides, those are Sokka's."

Splutters of mushy blubber graced their dining table as Sokka, red-faced and highly defensive, barked at his little sister. "What?! I only collected those for the science section!"

Hakoda frowned. "Gossip tabloids have science sections?"

"As the matter of fact, yeah", Katara pushed her plate away; a blob of mushy blubber ripe with her brother's germ landing on it banished any semblance of appetite. "I mean, it's not like we're that big on the showbiz. We can count the number of our celebrities with fingers."

"Speaking of which", Hakoda sipped from his cup slowly. "When he arrives, I want you all…" he inclined his head to, strangely, Kanna. "…to be nice to him. Okay? You two must behave", Hakoda addressed his children. To Katara, he said. "You: I know he's Fire Nation and a businessman, so don't bug him with the War and with that environmentalism thing you're always on about", then, he turned to his eldest child. "And you: don't bug him with… just don't bug him. Okay?"

The two kids grumbled.

"So, a playboy, huh?" Hama started as they resumed their breakfast, casting too sly a glance at Katara's direction. "He must be handsome."

Katara was completely mortified by her sifu's nudging on her elbow, winking conspiratorially. Kanna, seated on the other side of the table, looked horrified. The idea of her bloodline being involved in that way with a foreigner, a Fire Nation no less, was revolting.

"I think I'm gonna wait in the living room", Katara got up, feeling queasy already. "I have some studying to do."

Shivering openly, Katara made her way to the living room with her cup and bag. She settled on the couch in their spacious living room; bluish-white like every part of the house, with walls covered by rugs and animals hides, the whole room dominated by an ocean blue couch set and a coffee table made of imported Earth Kingdom glass. On the wall directly in front of the front door of the house was a traditional Water Tribe ornamental waterfall; pure layer of water cascading silently in front of a carving of the Tribe's emblem of the Moon and Ocean.

Katara fingered the same emblem carved upon the necklace she was wearing on her neck and quickly she shook the thought off. _It was just a dream_, she said, lying to herself. The War had scarred many people. She was one of those many people.

She wiped those defiant tears that had begun to swell up again. She reached to her bag quickly and extracted a random book to distract herself. Sadly, the study of human chi pathway could do little to help her right now. She must have overused this outlet, she thought to herself. She might need to find other outlet. Perhaps she should begin carrying a novel or something with her all the time for this purpose; school textbook seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

Sighing, Katara reached for one of the magazines stored under the coffee table, lamenting the fact that she might need to save up a bit; Water Tribes have no means to produce their own paper and publishing novels on leather or fabric scrolls is impractical and freaking expensive. Aspiring Water Tribe writers often moved to Earth Kingdom to pursue their dreams of being published. This also resulted in the high cost of books and printed materials in the Water Tribes and the two icy planets being the only places where second-hand books could go for their full prices.

As a show of goodwill after the war, a Fire Nation government-owned printing house did have a fifty years deal with the Water Tribes regarding the printing of their school textbooks, giving them the standard quality book with the usual affordable price, angering many Earth Kingdom publishers who lost many lucrative deals.

The deal made way for the prosperity of reading materials as some of the Earth Kingdom, in their effort to get in on the gravy, offered their services in printing some other non-academic materials with more affordable prices. Within a year after the war, the Water Tribes received the first copies of their homegrown magazines; although, either wanting to fleece off their Earth Kingdom partners or to get back at them for years being fleeced off, the Water Stars, the title of the tabloid, made this unspoken pact to only include pictures of people from their home planets since the Earth Kingdom printing houses charged per pages.

Most of their issues carried no picture whatsoever and, to fulfill their 'minimum 60 pages per issue' agreement, the Water Stars had the now-well-established science section, in which they discussed the latest technological gadgets and scientific finding of the Four Nations, and they had a periodic pulp fiction pages for aspiring writers who did not have the fund to move to the Earth Kingdom.

After a while, the head editor of the magazine thought it would be a good idea to put pictures for their science section on the cover as a default option if none of their distinguished Water Tribesman happened to do anything worth printing. To an outsider, it was easy to confuse a copy of Water Stars on its off days for a technological and scientific magazine; one way to tell them apart is to read the article heading on the cover. If you find something like _'Watery Grave: the Hunt for the Serial Drowner Continues. Is it the Butler or the Sister?'_ that, in no way whatsoever, sounds scientific, then you can be sure it is the messed-up Water Tribe magazine.

Katara flipped the page of the magazine bearing a picture of new model of Earth Kingdom's speeder-bike Equinus RX-2000 and happed to find herself staring at the article titled _'Billionaire Playboy's Wild Party Cost a Five-Stars Fire Nation Hotel Two Light Bulbs'_ with skeptically narrowed blue eyes.

_Seriously, be nice to him?_ She thought to herself as she skim read the article. Her cheeks grew redder when she read a line that said something about _'…a string of naked women… running across the front yard, visibly inebriated, cheering… Lin, the twenty-sixth, climbing the flagpole wearing nothing but a pair of red boxers… disturbing the other guests… flashing of genitals… police were called'_.

_Be nice? Yeah, right!_

Katara looked up as Sokka emerged from the kitchen, chewing something while fixing his Warrior uniform. The Southern Water Tribe is smaller and less structured than its sister Tribe. Conversely, the environment is harsher, hence they had long forgone the more gritty and restricting societal restrain in favor for the survival of the community. Women are equal to men regarding their role in waterbending, although they are still not welcomed in their ranks of Wolf Warriors. Women are still expected to do the housewifery: cooking, cleaning, birthing, etc. But, on the bright side, arranged marriage is the thing of the past and social castes are getting blurred.

Northern Water Tribe is more advanced in their cultural and technological prowess but they still stubbornly cling to the traditional values regarding gender role and social castes. Female waterbenders are supposed to learn healing art of the bending only and stay ignorant of the combative and constructive aspects of the art. Arranged marriages are common among girls turning sixteen; some anthropologists from Ba Sing Se theorized that this might contribute to the larger population of the Northern Water Tribe compared to the Southern Water Tribe. Gender roles, especially the feminine ones, are constantly under scrutiny from the society.

"I don't get this jerk", Katara said without looking up from the magazine; Sokka sat down and fixed his boomerang pouch on his back. "What's so special about him?"

"Come on, don't say that", Sokka peeked inside his bag, sloshing it a bit; the sound of metals clinking with metals worried Katara. "He's a philanthropist too, you know. And some sort of peace activist with his company going international", Sokka shrugged. "I can imagine a guy like him needing a break once in a while."

"He's a jerk", Katara restated plainly. "Anyway", she poked Sokka's knee with the tip of her fur boot. "Can you pick me up from school later? I sort of want to get home early."

"No, don't think I can", Sokka got up, draping his bag over his shoulder. "We have a new batch of rifles and I'm going to be busy testing them."

"You're no fun since you the joined the Warriors", Katara quipped, following her brother to the garage.

They got in a beat-up, self-modified car. Sokka's pride and joy. He had got it for himself after saving up (and nicking from Katara's otter-piggy bank) for many years. Soon after he completed his ice-dodging ritual, he had come home one day pushing this piece of junk all the way from the neighboring village. Katara had had a quite a lot of practice on her waterbending healing to heal sore muscles working on Sokka.

Anyway, that was the day Sokka announced he would finally drive his own car; Southern Water Tribe, being a small tight-knitted community where anyone knows everyone, had little use for driving license. Fathers usually take their sons and daughters on a ride and teach them how to drive as soon as their feet could touch the pedals. And when their child could finally drive safely, you can be sure the whole community would hear it from the proud fathers.

Sokka's plan of independent driving, his first step to manhood, however, met a teeny weeny obstacle that Katara had foreseen; he had been duped, the car was really a junk.

Katara had had a few good laughs, until she discovered the theft of her otter-piggy bank, and Sokka swore upon his honor as a self-professed mechanist (?) that he would make that car walk again. _"Run… roll again or…_ _Well_, whatever_!"_ he had thrown quite a tantrum over it.

And so he began working, really this time. No more shoveling snows or doing groceries for their neighbors, earning petty coins, he joined the Wolf Warriors. Katara had had a bet going on with her Gran Gran on how long Sokka would stay with the Warrior before he came home crying and defeated. She often underestimated her brother's tenacity and lost the bet.

It took several months for Sokka to swipe some select junk spare parts from the Warriors' Tank Division (that made Katara realize why he abandoned his dream of working for the Industry's R&D division: legal larceny of Army surplus and junk spare parts).

His car's original… erm, engine under the front hood had been taken out completely and the space redesigned into Sokka's own design: snack compartment. The back trunk had been cleared out and in it Sokka had fixed a low-powered tank engine that was too old and too weak to be used safely to accommodate a several-tons snow tank anymore. The defective repulsorlift engine had been taken out, and safely stored on the corner of the garage for Sokka vowed to one day conquered the knowledge needed to know how the dang thing operate, and Sokka had installed axels and huge surplus tires that are normally found in an armored car. Better yet, Sokka installed six of them; two pairs on the rear. He never told anyone why.

The result was horrendous.

Especially since Sokka had not gotten around to deal with the paint job and the extensive exterior damage of the car, and he had trouble finding insurance coverage since no sane insurance company wanted to have anything to do with the, and I quote, _'walking death contraption waiting to either explode or keel over a mound of snow and then explode'_. The visual aspect of the vehicle was less than non-existent.

But, Sokka did not care. Katara found this carefree side of her brother refreshing, actually.

Sokka loved his… car; he called it Carrie, because, you know, it _carried_ him places.

Katara still did not get it.

Still, having been monetarily victimized in the procuring of the car (?), Katara simply had to put her stake in and claimed partial ownership of the death contraption. Sokka, with the consent of their Gran Gran and father's stern stare, had become his little sister's personal driver.

It was quite a great deal once Katara had gotten used to the staring and finger pointing from the good people of the Southern Water Tribe.

Katara closed her door and put on her safety belt. She instinctively reached to the handlebar on her right and the edge of her seat on her left. Sokka checked if the emergency brake was in the proper place, full-on pointing up, and floored the brake pedal. He turned the ignition and Carrie lurched forward a bit, trying to leap forward but being held still in place by its six stubborn heavy wheels. It vibrated lowly and steadily, prompting Sokka to disengage the handbrake.

Suffice to say, Sokka's first test drive had been quite eventful in the 'I've-just-been-scared-crapless-and-had-five-years-of-my-life-shrotened' way. He had thought his car would run as smoothly as any car made by human would and that day he finally realized that he _did_ scream like a little girl. Carrie had, as Sokka lovingly put it, some quirks. The engine fit for a tank made the initial jumpstart akin to a rocket being launched was one of the more significant ones.

Carrie vibrated violently for half a minute, rattling the very exterior of the car, before it settled into a more normal and acceptable light whirring. Sokka pushed the gas pedal delicately, obeying another of Carrie's quirks; the exhaust exploded into a puff of black smoke before the car moved slowly out of the garage. Katara finally let go of her grip and out into the snow filled capital town –yes, _town_- of the Southern Water Tribe, the two siblings rode.

The Northern Water Tribe is basically one giant city, the second largest city in the Four Nations after Ba Sing Se, divided by many large districts. The whole Southern Water Tribe planet is almost like the more rural version of the Northern city plan and cultural sophistication. The vast ice-covered tundra had become the center of civilization, where the port, the Southern Water Tribe Academy, the Government House, the main hospital, and the dwellings of nobilities were located. Other districts, like the Merchant's District, the Industry's District, the various dwelling groups, the Hunters' Post, and many others were like different towns separated by miles of ice fields.

The Water Tribes had been dealing and surviving the harsh climate of their planets since the beginning of time, relying solely on the united strength of their community. An idea that an ethnic race could be separated into differing cities and opposing factions is a concept that was foreign to any blue-eyed Water Tribe.

Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation people though were more than ready to think of the Water Tribe as the weird one.

Katara looked out the window, smiling at the faint bright yellow light cast upon the uniform bluish-white of the buildings. Katara looked away as memories of fond childhood flooded in. She extracted one of her books almost instinctively and began studying. The faint rocking and the loud exhaust pipe backfiring snapped her from her reading. Carrie did that whenever it stopped.

"Sure you can't pick me up?" Katara asked again, putting a sour pout; that was when she tried to pout but wrestling with her pride at the same time, resulting in a look that was borderline angry and cold.

"Sorry, sis", Sokka grinned widely. "You gotta wait until noon", he followed Katara out; Katara slammed her door hard, another Carrie's Quirks, while Sokka leaned on his opened door and had a look of nostalgia in his face at the white building in front of them: rectangular design with flourished carvings of waves and Water Tribe patterns, with an ornamental fountain on the front bearing a statue of a waterbending man sprouting waters from his palms, and surrounded by a narrow tiny waterline running the ground from its encirclement around the fountain, along the sides of the wide walkway to the grand building, and around the building.

On the front of the building was a large carving of a shallow arc line with a centered dot below; the Mark of the Wise. Below it was the bulgy waterbent calligraphy of _'Southern Water Tribe Academy'_.

Sokka took a big sniff of the air. "Ah… Southern Water Tribe Academy. I remember my last time here", he said quaintly.

Katara snorted harshly. "You were _never_ here! You go straight to the workforce."

"I attended a seminar here!"

* * *

Hakoda and Bato stood tall and proud at the airfield; a vast clearing of plain covered with a mixture of especially hardened roughened layer of ice rock. Both were resplendent in their ceremonial armor; Bato wore his helmet unlike Hakoda.

A thin, sharp-nosed, long-winged, silver spaceship appeared from the horizon; Bato received the words from the control tower over his earpiece, tapped Hakoda on the shoulder, and nodded. They watched the starship approaching, shaped like a graceful snow swan from the distance. The engine roared loudly as the vehicle flew past them, casting a draft of wind that sent snow dust flying everywhere.

The starship turned in a wide circle around the airfield to dissipate its velocity. Up in the air hundreds of feet above their heads, Hakoda and Bato watched as the starship screeched loudly as it placed its landing gear in place. Almost like a pantomime act, the giant 80 meters-long vehicle stopped midair and hovered as the lower jet engines kicked in, blowing pointy plumes of blue flame from under the nose and the wings. It slowly hovered down and landed smoothly forty feet in front of the two men.

A hatch open from the side and a set of automated ladder sneaked down to the ground. Walking out from the vehicle was a short old woman clad in Water Tribe fur. Wrinkled, blue-eyed, and gray-haired, she fashioned her hair in a tight bun with two thick braids styled at the sides of her head like the more common hair-loopies, the sign that she was a widow in the traditional Northern Water Tribe tradition.

"Yugoda", Hakoda approached, opening his arms wide. The old woman laughed fondly as she embraced the taller man. "It is wonderful to see you again."

"You, as well", Yugoda held the man's shoulders at arm's length. "You've grown."

"Don't do that", Hakoda sighed sheepishly; Bato scratched his nose to hide his smirk. "I have kids now."

"Since when?!"

"Stop with the senile old woman shtick. You were invited to Katara's birthday last year."

* * *

It was eleven o'clock when Katara got out of her classroom with her other fellow students after surviving her Herbal Remedy exam. She sighed deeply as her shoulders slumped and she dragged her feet and her bag towards the front gate. Katara took the bus home.

As she arrived at the bus stop in front of the pastry shop a few block from her house, she received a text from her grandmother, informing her that since Hama and herself would be playing Pai Sho over at some friend's house all day, she would not be cooking lunch for the children. Katara mentally huffed at her Gran Gran; escaping the visit from the Industry's CEO so sneakily.

Even after the war, their family had many reasons to linger on their hatred towards the Fire Nation but none do so like her grandmother. Hakoda had been to the War himself and had his horizon broadened, as he once put it. Sokka had been won over by the technological advancement the Fire Nation had brought to their land, like many other Tribesmen had been by the employment and general improvement of welfare the Deep Forest Industry had brought to their little ice planet.

Katara chose the path of denial and ignorance.

It was simply too painful.

Katara paid several Water Tribe coins to the pastry shop cashier, taking her box of eight sweet seaweed puffs with her. This should be enough to keep Sokka quiet, she thought, fingering her remaining coins in her pocket. She only had around… eight…five… so, thirteen beins to last the week. She decided immediately that she would make Sokka pay half for this. Katara still relied on allowance but Sokka had an income.

Water Tribes does not produce a lot of precious metals like gold and silver and had to rely on other material to mint their coinage. Mined from deep within their mountains is a peculiar metal that has the outer appearance of thick ice but, like the blue core of an ice rock, is a sort mineralized ice immune to waterbending; its chemical compound suggests that it is a sort of metal.

They used the heat-resistant metal to make their weapons and both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom sought this ice metal for their industrial potential as refractory metal. The metal has an otherworldly high melting point and does not transfer heat very well. It makes tempering it a pain in the butt, but they used it a lot as a long lasting coating layer on the machines that deal with intense heat. The Water Tribe starships all used it on their jet engines exhaust.

The hardiness of the metal has also made it an ideal material for their coinage. They called the currency 'bein', after some long-lost Water Tribe language, and they assigned standardized number and sizes to it. The smaller number was one bein, a coin the diameter of one and a half centimeters; then, there is four and eight bein, each increasing in size; and the highest valued ten bein, a hefty thick bluish-white coin of six centimeters in diameter.

This made doing an international business and foreign exchange with the Water Tribe rather tricky; they put value of money in the numerals only while the other two Nations (the Monastic Order of the Air Nomads not included) also valued the specification of the coins. Business transaction between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation is a lot easier since they both have gold, silver, and copper currency; Fire Nation's silver and copper pieces were worth more or less the same as their Earth Kingdom's counterpart since they were all in the form of coins of more or less similar size and substance. Fire Nation's gold pieces are in the form of a larger rectangular plate while Earth Kingdom's gold pieces were about the same size of their lesser coins; hence, Fire Nation's gold pieces were considered to worth twice as valuable. Additionally, the Earth Kingdom has a gold ingot pieces as currency, each was valued as fifty of their regular gold pieces.

Conversion rate between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom is predominantly constant. Conversion rates between either currencies and Water Tribe bein, however, is often left at the mercy of the spirits. Especially when the price of ice metal in the global market is increasing, the value of Water Tribe currency could fluctuate wildly, going skyrocket overnight. Though, bear in mind that not all Water Tribe would automatically be millionaires in the other Nations. Their ice metal is only valuable to the industries that have use of them and there is a growing trend of conducting business in pure ice metal using the current price rate of as reference; currently, a kilogram of ice metal could go for 1425 gold pieces. Many foreign investors found it more convenient that way since they saw no long-term benefit in hoarding Water Tribe coins anyway; melting them is costly. Little by little, Water Tribe coins are losing worth globally.

Katara dusted off some snow from her boots at the threshold of her house; a comfortable looking two-storey house that, like all other permanent building in the Water Tribe, was made of the ice bricks. It was rectangular in general shape with round edges and a dome roof that resembled a giant igloo a little. Even the door was designed at the mouth of a sort of short tunnel, just like an igloo.

She turned the door knob; it was unlocked and Katara suspected that her Gran Gran had forgotten to lock the door again. She knew her father would be busy with work in the Government House and Sokka was doing the Ocean-knows-what with the Warriors. She still had not gotten Sokka's job, his _exact_ job. The first week of him being formally accepted into the ranks of the Wolf Warriors, Sokka had come home covered with grime and soot all over, saying something about weapon testing. The next month, he had investigated a robbery. After that, he had said something about… science stuff at the Warriors' Mechanic Division and would always come home late.

Katara had asked her father once; being the Tribal Chief, Hakoda was automatically the Supreme Commander of the Wolf Warriors. Hakoda had laughed and said that it was just the way the Wolf Warriors were.

What truly separated the Southern Water Tribe from their Northern sister is the lack structure. The Northern Water Tribe has the Waterbender Regiment, divided between the Land and Naval Corps; they had the Moon Warriors, their regiment of non-benders; they had the Air Force and, in it, the Border Guards that guard the outer space barricade around their planet; and they had a separate police force and Royal Guards.

The Southern Water Tribe had the Wolf Warriors.

The Wolf Warriors are the army, the navy, the air force, the police, etc. The Southern Water Tribe had little population and crime rates are quite low. The previous chiefs had seen no need to complicate their armed force and made no move to segregate their already little-in-number Warriors. The Wolf Warriors (they made no distinction between benders and non-benders) took the role of defenders and peacekeepers, though they do have specialization among their ranks; they have melee combatants, armored divisions, mounted divisions, artillery, combat mechanics, etc.

The Southern Water Tribe is a bit lacking in the air force, mostly due to the high cost of maintaining one, but they do have their outer space borders guarded by a barricade of space stations from their sister Tribe in exchange for a yearly tithe of their richer mineral output.

Katara entered the living room and took off her heavy anorak; the previous sisterly sympathy she might have felt for her brother disappeared into Amarok's Lair at the sight of him in the living room playing video game. Sokka's skull was thankfully thick enough to hold against the three thick botany and potion concoction books in the bag that was flailed to the top of his head.

"Katara!" he shouted, shielding himself with his arms to no avail at his baby sister swatting him with her heavy anorak and her bag.

"You said you were busy with work!" Katara demanded heatedly, assaulting even violently.

"Let me explain!"

"You stupid selfish hog-monkey!"

"Katara! Stop hitting me! It hurt!"

"Katara? I thought I heard your voice?"

"Yugoda!" docile all of the sudden, the girl dashed to the old lady and gave her a warm hug.

"Look at you", Yugoda smiled very warmly, holding the girl at arm's length. "You have grown so much!"

"You were just here last winter", Katara giggled, embracing the old woman once more.

After fending off Sokka from the pastry box (_"It's not my fault! Dad pulled me off the armory to see Yugoda home!"_ Sokka brought up his case to no avail), Katara and Yugoda adjourned to the kitchen and caught up over a cup of tea. In the middle of Katara recounting her waterbending lessons to Yugoda, both ladies were laughing, Sokka's head appeared from the corner of the room.

"Het, Katara, I ordered some pizza for lunch, okay. Can you pick up the tab? I'm a bit broke", he informed.

Katara was aghast. "You'd serve pizza to our guest?!" she practically shrieked. "What're you, some backwater barbarian?"

"What? It's been awhile since we've had pizza", Sokka shrugged. Yugoda piped in. "Oh, and nobody touched my cheesy bites!"

Katara gaped at the grinning old lady. "You have to stop facilitating him", Katara muttered dryly.

"And you have to learn to take it easy", the old woman replied sagely, refilling their cups manually. When she moved to Katara's cup, however, a stream of tea flowed from the teapot opening and formed a floating orb that settled calmly into the cup.

"I don't understand", Katara began quietly, gripping her cup with both hands. "Why won't you learn waterbending, _real_ waterbending, while you're here? I'm sure Hama would teach you gladly."

Yugoda smiled patiently, grasping the teenaged girl's hand. "It is the same answer if I asked you why you wouldn't abandon combat waterbending and focus solely on healing: it is who we are."

Katara snorted under her breath.

The doorbell rang, followed by Sokka's very loud. "Kataraaa!" from the living room.

Growling, the girl got up. Yugoda tried to sneak her money pouch into the girl's hand but Katara pushed it away, shaking her head. Yugoda stubbornly tried again and it resulted into a playful pouch throwing and hand slapping until Katara caught the indigo money pouch and put it on the middle of the table and ran out of the kitchen.

Grinning a little, she moved past the living room where Sokka was currently shouting some rather acceptable profanity at his warship being blown to smithereens by a horde of alien invaders. She reached the door and opened it to a boy around Sokka's age and height.

His jet black ponytailed hair, pale skin, and bright amber eyes were some of the rarest features Katara had ever seen before; in fact, she could not remember the last time she saw eyes the color of twilight sky like those. Even so, Katara found the combination aesthetically pleasing. Plus his smile; it was bright and the way it induced curvy, almost childish, laugh lines on his face and a thin but no less adorable dimple on his left cheek almost made Katara weak in the knee. Katara could see that his built was quite muscular despite the thick navy parka he was wearing.

"Oh, finally", she said, taking the small side dish box and the flat pizza box underneath it; Katara purposely ignored the large box he also held in his hands. "Thanks", she said, balancing the boxes on one hand while the other hand fished for her coins in her pocket.

"Um, actually", the boy began, grimacing awkwardly as he lifted the box up a bit. He opened his mouth to say more but Katara cut him in with her own conjecture.

"Oh, do you work for the postal office, as well?" Katara arched her brows; _wow, busy much._

"Well, it's—"

"Okay, where do I sign? Sokka, did you order some crazy stuff online again?!" she yelled the last part to the house, again with her snappy conjecture; Sokka did say he was broke, maybe this is why.

"No!" Sokka yelled back.

"Huh, must be Dad", Katara surmised. Looking up to the bewildered boy, she asked. "Well?"

"I-I'm sorry, s-sign?" he asked back and frowned a bit despite his still awkward smile.

"Oh, no signing stuff?" Katara smiled encouragingly since her motherly instinct kicked in. She had begun to think that this guy was new to his job. "Well, that's good then", she put the pizza boxes on top of the large box and took out all her coins, all thirteen beins, plus a candy she found in her other pocket, and shoved them into the boy's chest pocket. "Here you go, keep the change."

The boy put his hand on his pocket after Katara took the whole load, looking more lost than before. "Uh…"

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Katara asked again very friendlily; the delivery boy opened his mouth and closed it again like a fish gasping for air. "Oookay, then", Katara grinned and frowned, closing the door behind her.

Walking back inside the house, she moved to the kitchen, dodging Sokka who leaped up from the couch and was suddenly intent on relieving her of the pizza. "Don't be rude!" Katara kicked him on the shin. She brought her whole load to the dining table where three empty plates had been set.

"What's that?" Sokka asked with mouth full of seal blubber and snow mushroom pizza.

"I don't know", Katara shrugged as she shifted the not so heavy thick cardboard box. "Something Dad ordered online?"

"Hmm", Yugoda scrutinized the box, slapping Sokka's grubby hand off her cheesy bites. "Is there any sender information on it?"

Katara stood up and checked the top and the sides of the box. "Nope", she sat back down, lifting her slice of pizza. "The delivery boy didn't have the slip, too."

"I thought it was the pizza guy", Sokka said still with less than proper table manner.

"It was. I think he works for both the post office and Salty's. You know, like you were", Katara shrugged as Yugoda pulled the box closer to her for inspection purposes.

"They stole my idea", Sokka groused with puffy cheeks. "Multi-business delivery boy service."

Katara giggled as she added. "He's kinda cute."

Sokka choked harshly at this.

"Katara", Yugoda called with a flat voice and expression, blue eyes trained on the dark brown cardboard box she was rubbing gently with the tip of her finger. "This delivery boy… jet black hair that looks as smooth as silk, pale skin like a layer of fresh snow, amber eyes that looked like droplets of evening sunlight, and a smile that could light up an igloo in the dead night of Water Tribe winter?"

"Yugoda, your preference for men is starting to worry me", Katara said kindly. "Sokka, prepare to run."

"Katara…" Yugoda sighed as she grimaced.

"I tipped him quite generously, if that makes you feel any better", teased Katara; Yugoda simply withdrew deeper into her grimace. "What?" she began to laugh.

"Dear girl", Yugoda started patiently, grimacing deeply. "You just tipped the CEO of a multinational conglomerate."

"Oh, dang!" Sokka exclaimed suddenly, making the two ladies jumped. "We forgot to order soda."

* * *

"I am so sorry about this again", Hakoda bowed a little; turning to his daughter by his side, he ordered firmly. "Katara, apologize!"

"Um… sorry", Katara bowed a formal bow; Lin simply smiled and inclined his head a little.

"That's alright", Lin said sunnily. Locking eyes with the chief, smirks of the same kind dawned upon their faces before they broke down laughing and scooping each other into a tight embrace. Katara and Sokka exchanged a bewildered look at the way they greeted each other now.

They were equal.

They broke off and soon, laughing boisterously, Bato moved in. Patting each other hard on the back, they broke off and Hakoda joined them. Holding each other's shoulders side by side in a circle, it was a greeting amongst Water Tribe warriors. Make that Water Tribe brothers-in-arms; fellow warriors who see each other as equal in skill and valor, and to whom they would entrust their lives.

The shorter Fire Nation boy looked almost out of place between the two seasoned Water Tribe warriors.

"Four years", Lin said, grinning wide. His pale cheeks blushed visibly from the laughing and merriment.

"Earth Kingdom Zhong Thu Region", Bato said, shaking his head a little. "You've gotten taller, kid."

Lin grunted as he broke off the circle, earning him a headlock from the laughing Bato.

"And Yugoda, it has been awhile", Lin greeted the old lady. Disentangling himself from Bato, he stepped forth and presented the old lady with a bow bearing a hand gesture that was foreign to Katara and Sokka; left hand open with fingers pointing upward placed above right fist. Yugoda replied the bow with a formal Water Tribe kind.

"Chief Arnook remembers your last visit to the Northern Water Tribe", Yugoda said fondly. "He has sent me along with the _Imaq_ to provide medical comfort if necessary."

"That is very thoughtful and…" he looked paler all of the sudden. "…don't remind me."

After being teased some more about his tendency to fall victim to air and seasickness, Lin was promptly being sequestered away to the comfortable living room by the boys. Katara and Yugoda were left in the kitchen to prepare tea.

"So, that's _him_", Katara could not hold it anymore. "He looks…young…"

Yugoda gave her a knowing smile. "He visited the North Pole years ago when he was ten. It was some sort of family tradition or something", she arranged some cut up pieces of sea-prune sponge cake and bowls of steaming five-flavor soup on a wide tray, neatly aligning the bowls around the wide plate that bore the cake.

"He seems…" Katara pondered aloud as she brewed the seaweed tea, struggling for word. "…_nice_."

"Oh, he is a charming boy", Yugoda said fondly.

"B-but, he—", Katara grimaced uneasily, holding Yugoda's shoulder to halt her in their trek to the living room. Katara leaned in and whispered gravely to Yugoda's ear. "He climbed a flagpole and flashed his part!"

"He did _what_?!" Yugoda hissed back. Then, she just shook her head, clicking her tongue dismissively before she resumed their march.

"Ah…" Hakoda smiled at the arrival of the food. "Sea-prune cake", he commented as Yugoda distributed the food, smacking Sokka's grubby hand in the process, while Katara poured them the tea and glared at Sokka sharply. The guest should be allowed the first bite, according to Water Tribe custom.

"Ah, sea-prune. Finally, I get to see what the fuss is all about", Lin picked up a piece and took a bite. His first bite was followed by a two full seconds of pause, few more quick chew, and a hearty gulp from his cup. "Are you guys picking on me because I'm a tourist?!" he demanded from the guffawing Bato and Hakoda.

"It's an acquired taste", Hakoda laughed; he and Bato each took a piece of cake and swallowed them whole to prove this point.

"So", Lin took another sip of his cup, turning to Hakoda's children. "You two must be Sokka and Katara. Hakoda could not shut up about you two."

"You know our Dad?" Katara frowned deeply; Sokka looked a bit intrigued himself in between his munching.

"Yes", Lin replied lightly, smiling easily. "We've met in the War."

"The War?" Katara gawked. "B-but, you're…" _Fire Nation_.

Lin simply chuckled. "You should ask your dad", Lin said, turning pointedly at Hakoda.

Hakoda looked away to hide his smirk. "By the way, where are your luggage?" he changed the topic.

"In the hotel", Lin shrugged.

"Hotel?!" Hakoda exclaimed. "Oh, by the spirits… what did I tell you about staying with us? This will not do!" he sounded a little furious.

Lin's confused expression from before came back, Katara noticed.

"Sokka, Katara, go take our guest to the hotel", Hakoda ordered authoritatively. "Make sure he get his luggage packed and then bring him home. You are allowed to use force if necessary."

"That's it, I'm being kidnapped", Lin said lightly, draining his cup and the steaming hot bowl of soup, making Katara and Sokka's eyes grew wide at his lack of response to the scalding hot liquid gushing into his mouth, and he got up and rubbed his back. "I knew this day would come."

"You are staying with us", Hakoda said firmly. "We've talked about this."

Lin smiled and bowed before being ushered out by Sokka and Katara. In the garage, he wisely kept his comment about Carrie the car to himself. He did however incorrectly surmise that the car was a retired half-destroyed tank turned urban vehicle.

In the backseat, he had the mind to mimic Sokka and Katara who gripped any grip-able part of the interior before Sokka turned on the ignition. Lin found himself almost being throttled out through the windshield.

"So", Sokka broke the silence after they hit the road. "You know our dad from… the War?" he drawled the last part a little skeptically.

"Something like that", Lin replied mysteriously, smiling his usual smile that Katara now found to be rather smug.

Sokka narrowed his eyes on the rear mirror. "Okay, I'm dying to know", he said frankly. "You're _Fire Nation_, right?"

"That's right~", Lin sang.

"Shouldn't you be… you know… the enemy", Sokka frowned, then his eyes widened as he realized he might have said something offensive. "I-I mean, you know, during the War! Shouldn't you be the enemy during the War? Not _now_. We're all peace and friendly now, so not… _now_", he trailed off. Katara closed her eyes and winced.

Lin snickered openly. "You should ask your dad", he said fairly. "Your Dad is a great man. He conducted himself with honor and integrity during the Conflict. I should not strip him of the opportunity to brag about it to his children."

Sokka's brows arched higher before he settled for a grin. Katara looked out the window and muttered softly. "_Men_…"

"Hey, what is that place?" Lin asked interestedly at the side of the road Katara was staring into; the latter felt like it was intentionally directed at her.

"Oh, that?" Sokka was the one who answered though, glancing to his right briefly at the many small traditional igloos surrounded by many men and women in ragged outfits. "That's the slum."

"Really?" Lin sounded interested. "I thought Water Tribes don't have slums."

"That's the stereotype", Sokka chuckled. "They're not all wrong though. Just look at how my dad insists you stay with us; the good ole Water Tribe hospitality."

"Hakoda and Bato have been asking me to come and visit for years", Lin said brightly. "I must say, I'm kind of glad I—", he stopped short. Sokka waited for more while Katara found herself straining her ears while feigning nonchalance. "Did Hakoda say anything about why I'm here?" he asked suspiciously.

"Now that you mention it, no", Sokka frowned, scratching his head. "He didn't speak much of it and I was busy with work. Katara, did Dad say anything to you?"

"No", Katara practically yawned. "I'm busy studying for my exams, remember?"

"Exams?" Lin asked interestedly.

"Yeah", Sokka answered the question for her. "Katara's studying to be a healer."

"Doctor?" Lin arched his brows.

"No, healer", Sokka replied. "Dunno what the difference is."

Lin turned to Katara who dragged the silence as long as she could. "It's… we use the combination of waterbending healing and traditional herbal remedy."

"Oh, waterbending. That's right, Hakoda mentioned that you were a waterbender before", Lin thought aloud.

"Yeah", Katara managed a weak polite smile.

They spent the rest of the journey in relative silence, mainly because Lin at some point closed his eyes and looked like he was dozing off. Sokka drove the car through the icy tundra into the Merchant District.

Tall buildings lined along the right and left of the simple road. Stores and shopping malls, roadside stalls and kiosks. At the end of the road was the tallest most majestic building, standing like an ice sculpture. Tall and with round edges, surrounded by ornamental moats, the Southern Water Tribe Hotel provided the most lavish accommodation for diplomatic guests and rich tourists.

Sokka pulled over at the parking lot. Together, they entered the building into an exquisite lobby. Spacious and carpeted; pearly, icy, white walls with carving of Water Tribe pattern, with swirls and lines that mimicked the wave and the ocean, lounge areas with circular couch on the four corner of the lobby, and a circular blue marble receptionist counter standing in the middle of the room.

Two men approached from one of the longue couches; a tall tanned-skin large muscular man with black hair and beard, with face that looked like it was carved on a marble stone and a shorter paler-skinned slender man with a clean-shaven face and a pair of bright amber eyes unlike the first man's emerald orb. Lin gestured them to come and, as they met, Lin leaned forward to the shorter pale-skinned man and whispered something in his ear. The man nodded and, inclining his head at the giant man, they walked to the direction of the elevator.

Katara was intrigued as to who those two were but chose to hold her tongue; Sokka did not have her tact.

"Who are those?" he asked and Katara mentally facepalmed. The word 'privacy' did not register in Sokka's mental dictionary.

"Just my bodyguards", Lin smiled a little. "Hey, do you guys mind waiting here in the lobby. I won't be long, haven't even unpacked yet."

With one last smile, he turned and walked towards the elevator. Sokka was more than happy to stride to the nearest longue, especially since they had a jar of complimentary seaweed cracker on the table. Katara kept an eye on the back of the Fire Nation boy. There was something about him she could not trust completely.

Lin walked out of the elevator ten minutes later, alone this time. He only had a small fur sling bag and a black coat with him. Apologizing for the wait, he led them out of the hotel. The journey home was more or less uneventful; the most memorable part was when Sokka offered to cleared out some part of his snack compartment to give room for Lin's bag but the idea was shot down by Katara who argued that Lin would not appreciate his bag coming out smelling like blubber seal jerky.

As they drove through the tundra road that passed through the slump igloos, Katara found her eyes wandering out to those people again. She felt Lin staring at her but when she covertly checked the side mirror, she found the billionaire with his eyes closed again, either sleeping or meditating. Her dad and Bato did make fun of him being bad with long-distance interplanetary flight. Must be jetlag, Katara thought.

Katara found herself glancing the side mirror every now and then. She wanted to keep an eye on this Fire Nation guy. When his cellphone buzzed, Katara jumped a little; Lin was still as calm as ever as he took the device out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and smiled. Genuine earnest real smile that, according to Yugoda, could light up an igloo in the dead night of Water Tribe winter.

"Hey, Princess", Lin greeted at the phone.

"_I'm at your place. You're not here. Where are you?"_ Azula said unhappily from the other line. Lin smiled a bit as he noticed a well hidden tone of worry in her haughty tone.

Lin sucked his teeth. "Uhhhh…."

"_Where… Are… You…?"_

He laughed awkwardly. "On the road."

"_On the road _where_?"_

"To a friend's house. Business call."

"…_Oh. Are you alright?"_

"Of course, I'm alright."

"_I'll wait for you here, okay?"_

"Yeah… about that…"

"_Urgh… what now?"_

"I'm staying over at this friend's for a few days. It might have slipped my mind to tell you."

Azula sighed deeply. _"Dummy…"_

"Uh, sorry?" Lin grinned guiltily.

"_I'm stuck with Ty Lee then."_

"Oh, no… What did Zuko and Mai do this time?"

"_I don't wanna talk about it. There are… noises…"_

* * *

_(Fire Nation, half an hour ago, 5:43 Fire Nation Time)_

Azula had just finished her long winding case report, well, the first draft anyway. Still, she had decided that she deserved a reward. Making her way back from the kitchen with her personal ice cream cup, it had a very specific threat taped on it directed at Zuko, and a spoon in her mouth, she was just passing through the door to Zuko's room when she heard something through the muffled heavy metal music.

She heard a scream through the veil of the loud music… Mai's.

Curiously, Azula made her way to the door, listening intently as a series of crash and banging ensued.

"_Harder, Zuko! Harder!"_

She spat her ice cream and her spoon immediately.

"Oh— dammit, Zuko!" Azula cursed tersely, stomping her foot down furiously. "Why…?" she redirected it to the ceiling, to the Heavens, as she walked back to the kitchen. "Why, really? Every time I decided to pamper myself a little! _Why_? I don't deserve this torture, I'm a good person! I _am_! Ask my therapist!"

She threw her _Auntie Yum's_ vanilla cherry ice cream, her favorite too, to the garbage bin. Shivering, she darted to her room, texting Ty Lee about 'staying over protocol'. She got out of her room few minutes later, fully dressed, and left without a single word.

Zuko and Mai got out of their room five minutes after Azula left. Zuko was carrying a bat and holding one of his coats in a bundle at arm's length. Mai was in one of her rare show of emotion; that early morning she featured 'fear' as she cringed behind Zuko, her fingers digging deep into his shirt.

"How do you have a spider-rat in your room when you have that useless mutt in this apartment?" Mai demanded harshly as Zuko threw the bundle into the garbage chute near the sink.

"How should I know?" Zuko replied just as coldly. The said mutt, Zuko's grey and white wolf-husky, was busy licking the ice cream splatter and Azula's spoon on the floor.

* * *

"_I hate him"_, Azula groused. _"If I come home to some embryo of niece or nephew, I'm going to shoot Zuko in the—"_

"Now, now, Princess", Lin laughed. "Violence is so unladylike."

"_When are you coming back?"_ Azula asked again.

"I'm not sure", Lin frowned. "It'll be a few days, at least. You can stay at my place if you want."

"_No"_, Azula said quietly; Lin could hear her feet shuffling on the pebbled courtyard of his mansion. _"I don't… I don't like being alone here."_

"Okay, if you say so", Lin smiled sadly; Katara was intrigued at how tender his tone was. _Just who is it on the line_, she asked herself.

"_Call me as soon as you get back."_

"Yes, Princess", Lin smiled again. "Hey…"

"_Hey, who?"_

"Hey, Azzie."

"_That's two",_ Azula replied bluntly.

"I love you", Lin whispered quickly to the phone.

"_I know",_ Azula replied and hung up.

Lin snickered and stored his phone back to his pocket, ignoring Sokka and Katara's teasing smirk. "Who was thaaaat?" Sokka, of course, would not hold himself.

"Oh, well, you know…" Lin shrugged evading smoothly.

They arrived at Hakoda's house. Hakoda and Bato had gone out apparently, and Yugoda ordered the kids to take their guest to his room and said to Lin about a pot of herbal tea she had prepared for him. Inside the small comfortable room, with furniture consisted of a small bed, a nightstand, a study desk and chair, and a mirrored wardrobe, Katara could not help but wondered about the teapot on the nightstand.

Hot drinks do not stay hot for long in the Water Tribe.

She was wondering if their guest was a firebender.

* * *

It was midnight when Katara closed her book, deciding that she had studied enough. Yawning, she stood up and got out of her room. She descended the stairs to the kitchen; a strong sour-sweet whiff of snowberry wine from the living room urged her to make the detour. Her suspicion was proven true. Bata and Hakoda passed out on the couch, drunk as weasel-skunk. Several bottles of nearly empty clear-white liquor were lying around sloppily on the table and the floor, one was gripped precariously by the Water Chief.

Sighing, Katara picked up the bottles and set them on the table neatly. She used her bending to extract all the leftover wine and put them in one single bottle. She picked up the empty bottles and brought them with her in the kitchen.

As she stepped foot into the kitchen, her suspicion that Lin was a firebender was proven.

The guest was sitting there on one of the chair with his eyes closed; a small ball of fire was flickering in front of him suspended in the air. As Katara watched, the ball of flame separated into two more balls at the right and left, floating diagonally up. The two balls parted again and the fractions floated up and merged to form another ball. The four balls stood in a lozenge before they started spinning, slowly at first before going faster and faster until Katara could see only a ring of fire. The ring of flame disappeared abruptly, casting the room back into darkness.

Lin opened his eyes and Katara flicked on the lamp switch.

"Oh", he smiled awkwardly. "I thought you're already asleep."

"No, I, uh… I was studying", Katara muttered, placing the empty bottles on the table. "You're um, you're a… firebender?"

"I hope that's not a problem", he smiled again.

"No, no, it's just… um, I sort of thought you might be, so…" Katara gripped her elbow, looking away a bit. "Hey, you're hungry?"

"A little. Your grandmother seems fond of using sea-prunes in everything she cooks. What you got there?" Lin asked at Katara who went to the fridge.

"She's just a bit apprehensive towards Fire Nation", Katara laughed as she put the paper pastry box on the table.

"'_Dear Sokka, hands off or I'll cut them off!'_", he read the sticky note attached to the box.

"Ever tried Water Tribe's sweet seaweed puff?" Katara handed him the pastry.

"Sweet… seaweed?" Lin sounded unsure.

"What? Seaweed can be sweet", Katara grinned. "And it's fun to say. Sweet seaweed."

Lin snickered. "This is not made of flour, I presume?" he scrutinized the outer layer of the pastry.

"Not exactly", Katara bit into hers. Lin tried a bite and he seemed to like it.

"This is good", he commented, inspecting the filling. "Okay, I'm curious. Do I want to know?"

"Maybe not", Katara strained her smile.

"Tell me this, at least: is it made of plants?" Lin inquired.

Katara smirked mysteriously. "…Maybe."

"Thank you for not telling me", Lin lifted up his puff.

"You're welcome", Katara snickered as they clinked their puffs.

They enjoyed their snack in relative silence.

"Why did you do it?" Katara could not hold it anymore.

"Oh… I don't like being drunk. It was some sort of advanced firebending medit—"

"No, I meant… you know, all this", Katara made a slight sweeping gesture.

"I suppose… because I can?" Lin replied unsurely. "I just want to help."

"What… are you talking about?" Katara frowned.

"What are _you_ talking about?" Lin looked more confused.

"Well, you know… all the wild parties, flagpole climbing, flashing—"

"Ah, that", Lin rubbed his head, trying hard to stifle his laughter despite his suddenly red cheeks. "Oh, wow… this is not awkward. Would you believe me if I said it was _not_ me?"

"They said it was you", Katara narrowed her eyes skeptically.

"They _thought_ it was me", Lin pointed out, nibbling a little on the flaky exterior of the pastry. "And, as far as the world is concerned, it _was_ me."

"It was you? You did that?" Katara made a face.

"No, of course not", Lin denied rather crossly. "It was my body double."

"You have a… body double?" Katara asked dryly, not buying it.

"Yes", Lin nodded.

"For wild parties?"

"I hate parties", Lin said as if it made the perfect sense. "But, apparently, when you're the CEO of a multi-billion company, you have to throw these kinds of party every once in a while. It's some kind of a social protocol or something; if you don't do it, people will stop thinking that you're one of the cool kids. So, I hired a body double, invited a bunch of people who I don't even know, and don't know me, I'm sure. My body double had one too many and the flagpoles incident came into being."

"Flag…poles?"

"Too soon?"

"Urgh! That's—", Katara made a disgusted face despite her grin; Lin tried to calm her down despite his grin.

"No, no, no. Sorry, sorry", Lin said to no avail as Katara threatened him with her raised fist.

"Ew!" Katara slugged him on the shoulder, then she laughed.

"And now you're laughing", Lin snickered. "Azula said I have talent in comedy. She said it's because my whole existence is a joke."

"Ouch", Katara chuckled. "Girlfriend?"

Now, it was Lin's turn to get all mysterious. "Maybe…" he chuckled. "You should get some sleep."

"Yeah, I should", Katara yawned. "You should, too. It's late."

"I don't think I can sleep", Lin shrugged; he did look strangely alert to Katara. "Jetlag. Also, after we get Hakoda past the first bottle, he told me that your grandmother usually cooks breakfast. I am tempted to oversleep a bit."

"Aw, here, you can have all these", Katara patted the pastry box. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight", Lin smiled.

Katara went back to her room and locked the door. Her intention, however, was far from getting a goodnight sleep. Lin had said that he would not be sleeping soon. Katara would have to steer clear of the kitchen and living room windows.

She made her way to the empty wall right beside her wardrobe. She unfroze the water and froze the splashes sideways, revealing beneath the layer a tall rectangular groove on the wall. She had had to spend months working to make this groove; bending water from the ice rock is not easy. Harder still was mixing the salt water to replace the ice rock without raising suspicion. Finding the right ratio of salt and water to make the mixture cloudy enough was a pain and it took an insane amount of salt. The stuff is not cheap.

Katara took from it her costume; a tight fitting halter top, a pair of tight trousers, a thick old blanket with slightly ragged hem tied securely with a piece of hem rope pinned on her chest with a large plain white shell brooch. The whole costume, as with the makeup she applied to her face, was colored maroon.

She colored her lips, drew a bar below her lower lip on her chin, two pointy wave lines on each side of her cheeks, shaded her upper eyelids a little way down to the sides of her nose with crimson makeup she made of crushed red berries. She added three pointy bars on her shoulders and the sides of her neck, and, as finishing touch, the symbol of the crescent moon curving downward with yellow honeyberry powder makeup.

She undid her braid and fashioned her hair into a top-knot. The last part of her costume was a wide, thin-veiled, flat-topped straw hat.

Katara fixed the hiding compartment on her wall. She put on her hat and climbed out her window. She waved her hands gracefully at layer of snow below, forming an arc of ice; she slid down, landing on the street outside the fence. She turned the ice arc into a wave of water that she rode as she made her way silently towards the slums.

The Painted Lady took to the night.

* * *

The old man was really sick, she thought. She bent the water to his chest and channeled her chi; the water grew bright and blue, and the hacking stopped. The old man grunted and started to breathe more easily. It would hold for now, the Painted Lady thought, bending the water back to the floor. Standing up, she scanned the room of the igloo.

The old man and his wife, both suffering from pneumonia, had been taken care of. Now, she must get out before their sons came home. Crawling out of the tiny igloo, she scanned around the slum. The group of six children ran up to her, huddling up to hug her.

"Thank you, Painted Lady", one of them said.

"Oh, you are very welcome, my little Painted Helpers", the Painted Lady said brightly with that old lady voice of hers; Katara was good at imitating voices. "And remember to be on the lookout, alright? I will be back next week."

"Yes, Painted Lady", they chorused rather loudly; the Painted Lady shushed them and the children giggled as they covered their mouths with their hands.

Bidding her goodbye, the Painted Lady summoned a puff of fog. As it subsided, she was gone.

* * *

"Come on, let's scram!" the masked man shouted over the blaring alarm of the Merchant District Bank.

He and his two partners in crime, each was carrying a bag of bein, quickly entered the automobile; the fourth member of the gang, the driver, quickly accelerated away from the scene of the crime. A sapphire blue speeder-car emerged from the corner of the road before they got away long; blue and white siren blaring on top of it, a dark blue symbol of the crescent moon –the Mark of the Brave- was emblazoned on the surface of the hood, and the Wolf Warriors wolf-head emblem on both sides of the car.

"We got them!" Tarriq, the driver and the senior Wolf Warrior in the car, shouted to his night patrol partner for the evening… Sokka. "I'll call for backup, you get them to stop!"

"I got it!" Sokka reached for a microphone and pushed his torso out of the window. "Wolf Warriors! Stop or we'll shoot, you criminal trash!" but what came out from the bullhorn on top of the car was. **"Attention, HQ! We got visu— Sokka, you icebrain!"**

"Sorry, wrong piece!" Sokka grinned guilty.

"_Excuse me! Did you just call me—"_

"No, HQ. That's Sokka's usual antic—", Tarriq started but Sokka cut in energetically.

"Sokka-s-tic! You know, like 'sarcastic' but—"

"Sokka, robbers, running away, _now_!" Tarriq growled.

Sokka scowled a little.** "Wolf Warriors! Stop or we'll shoot, you criminal trash!"**

"Cut it out with the name calling, will you?" Tarriq exclaimed, pulling Sokka in as the speeder-car ran past a road pole uncomfortably close.

The automobile brought the chase through the empty streets of the district. An ice ramp forming mysteriously on the road, catching the right front tire and resulting in the car overturning and sliding with a loud screech on its side and crashing onto a lamppost, put a stop to the high-speed chase.

The Wolf Warrior cruiser careened to stop; Tarriq and Sokka, after the latter finished curling up in a tight ball, exited the vehicle. Sokka, since the right side of their car was facing the criminals', was up to his comical shtick as he quickly ran around the car to the other side to join Tarriq and, he, being Sokka, sort of slipped on the snowy road. Tarriq sighed and rolled his eyes.

Pulling the corded microphone to his bearded mouth, Tarriq roared through the bullhorn. **"You are under arrest! Any resistance will be met with severe force! Surrender quietly!"**

A bright blue bolt hit the right ear of Tarriq's wolf helmet, severing the piece off. He had the sense to duck quickly.

"Man, I miss the days when criminals would _always_ surrender quietly", the middle-aged man griped, pulling his gun from his holster. Blue frost bolts flew towards them, breaking their car windows and punching dented holes the exterior. Tapping the missing ear of his helmet, Tarriq turned to Sokka with a dark expression on his face. "Ready, kid?"

Sokka gulped and nodded, gripping his gun steadily.

"Okay, on three. One… two… three!" they emerged from the top of their sedan car with their guns, screaming.

Their screaming stopped as they gawked at the sight of the mass of thick, visibly impenetrable fog enveloping the automobile in front of them. Blue bolts of gun, water blasts, and screaming came out of the chalky white mass occasionally, as did the sound of grunting, screaming, thumping, crashing… _whipping_.

And a single boomerang.

It got quiet all of a sudden.

The fog slowly dissipated, revealing the scene of the automobile suffering a large frosted patch on it, the criminals grunting and twitching on the ground, one was on top of the overturned airmobile and one other frozen by the torso on the bent lamppost.

A female was standing above the rabble with her back turned on the Warriors, clad in red robe and wide veiled circular hat.

"Freeze!" Tarriq bellowed, pointing his gun at the female's back

The Painted Lady turned her head just slightly. She raised her arm and a thick fog erupted from below her feet. As if on cue, two more Wolf cruisers skidded from the corner of the road, siren blaring. They skidded to stop at the right and left of the mass of fog, surrounding the fog from three sides along with Tarriq and Sokka.

When they fog disappeared though, only the criminals were left.

A block away, the Painted Lady watched calmly from the top of the tall apartment complex, a satisfied smirk graced her painted face.

"Good evening."

Her eyes widened slightly but she turned and launched the three-tendril water whip anyway. Lin yelped and fell down awkwardly; the Painted Lady's water whip left three long gashes on the ice bricked wall behind him. The Painted Lady, however, did not fall for that. It was no 'lucky' trip like the case would often be with Sokka. This guy had well-honed reflexes and he even made it look clumsy on purpose.

"Why, hello there, stranger", the Lady greeted with her 'old lady voice', tipping her hat lower. "I do apologize for startling you. But, you shouldn't be out this late at night. It's not safe."

"Does it hurt your throat talking like that all the time…" Lin frowned. "…Katara?"

The Painted Lady bit her lower lip. "…Maybe."

Snickering, Lin threw her the canned soda. Grumbling, Katara took off her hat. "How did you know?" she asked the boy who joined her in the railing, leaning on his elbows as he watched the scene of the arrest tens of yards away.

"Lucky guess?" he said, sipping his own salt-sea-grape soda, wincing slightly. "I think I'm starting to like this. Should I be worried?"

"If you have problem with a temporarily purple tongue, yes", Katara shrugged, propping her hat against the ledge.

"It's the way you look at the slums when we drove past them. Both occasions", Lin relented under Katara's stare. "I've seen that look only twice before in my life… on your dad's face", Katara felt a jolt to her chest. "And it was both followed by some rather a drastic, very selfless, slightly suicidal action. On one occasion, I nearly lost my life."

Katara blinked. "Seriously, what's the story between you two?"

Lin chuckled. "War story."

"You've really been to the war?" Katara asked, curiosity uncontained. "How old are you?"

"That's rude, asking people's age. Well, in Fire Nation, anyway", Lin frowned amusedly.

"This is Water Tribe", Katara shrugged lightly, smirking smugly. "So?"

"I'm eighteen", Lin answered.

"Oh", Katara did the math. "You were in the War for about three years then, just a year less than my dad."

"Actually", Lin scratched his head slightly. "I've been in the War longer than your dad. I joined the Army when I was eleven."

"What?!" Katara nearly spat her drink. "But, you were just a kid."

Like she had been…

"_Mom, I'm scared…"_

"It's a long story", Lin smiled sadly. "You should really let your dad tell you the story. It's his glory, after all", he crumpled his can and let it fall down to the trash can on the street below. The can freefell eight storeys down and hit the rim of the trash can with a sharp clank and fell to the pavement. Lin went on playing dumb.

Katara sipped her drink, staring at the Fire Nation boy intently.

"Should we go home?" Lin asked.

Katara sat her can on the railing. "Will you tell?"

Lin sighed tiredly. "Hakoda is an honorable warrior", Lin said patiently. "He has earned himself—"

"No, I meant about me being…" she said witheringly. "You know…" she gestured at her whole outfit.

"Oh, that", Lin cleared his throat. "Let's see… should I tell the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe that his daughter is secretly a vigilante? Hmm, that's tough. Any hint?"

"How about this: don't", Katara began forcefully. "…please", and added weakly with a grimace.

"Of course, I won't tell", Lin said right before he climbed over the railing and let gravity drag him down almost too gracefully.

Katara gasped and tried to reach for him; her fingers barely brush against the tip of his ponytail. Lin caught the railing of the balcony below before the kinetic of his fall built up too much. He swung and dropped down two more storeys, repeating the action in a zigzag pattern until his feet touched the ground below. Katara snapped herself out of her awe and formed a wave of water from the snow around the rooftop that brought her down.

"So, what else do you usually do?" Lin grinned widely. "As the Painted Lady, of course."

* * *

"**Wolf Warrior! You're und— Oh, ***_**beep**_***"**

"Sokka, language!" Tarriq slapped the youth's arm.

"But, she beat us here again!" Sokka protested, gesturing at the view in front of their windshield: a group of illegal waterbending duelists frozen to the wall, unconscious.

"_Attention, all cruisers! A possible 187 in progress! Merchant District, fifth street."_

"This is Cruiser W-1224. We're on our way", Tarriq replied the radio.

"Hey, what's 187 again? Burglary?" Sokka asked.

"Homicide, you rookie", Tarriq snapped. "Seriously, after being a Warrior for two years?"

"Homicide? That doesn't make sense!" Sokka argued. "How can a homicide be 'in progress'? Does it mean the knife is still being pulled from body or something? I mean, the victim has to be dead for it to be—

"I don't know, okay!" Tarriq screamed, slamming the wheel to make a sharp right turn, not at all sorry that Sokka's face was pushed to the glass in the process. Really, he liked the kid and his enthusiasm with his work but Sokka could drive him up the wall with his questions and 'logical' argument about anything and everything.

They stopped at the corner of the road. "We're late again", Tarriq sighed at the scene where a badly beaten unconscious man was frozen to the ground and an elderly man sat on the bench, grinning weakly, gripping his bleeding side but otherwise unharmed. "HQ, send ambulance. We—"

"_Attention!"_ the HQ interjected. _"A 242 in progress. Merchant District, the bus stop on the Third Street."_

"W-1224. We're on it."

Three minutes of speeding later.

"Again?!" Sokka slapped his forehead. The group of rowdy men had been knocked unconscious in a pile.

"_All cruisers! 502 in progress, going along—"_

A speeder-car sped past the intersection in front of them and disappeared from sight. They heard a horrific screeching followed by a loud crash.

"_Never mind. 207 in progress. Merchant District, the hospital on the Ninth Street!"_

"W-1224, on it!"

The large burly male kidnapper, however, had been apprehended and tied up by the hospital staff upon arrival. They cited the Painted Lady for helping them with the ordeal.

"_245! Merchant District—"_

"On it!"

The crazed girlfriend, though, was frozen to the nearby lamppost; her whale-bone cudgel lying at her feet.

"_261 in progress!"_

"On it!"

The would-be rapist's face was unrecognizably bloody and bruised.

"_211! The Royal Art Gallery on—"_

"On it!"

The five burglars were frozen solid in a chunk of ice.

"_311!"_

"ON IT!"

Tarriq slammed his head on the wheel at the flasher whose private part was encased in ice. It ironically looked sort of like that censor blur on TV.

"Seriously?" Sokka slumped tiredly into his seat.

"_Attention! A 507 in progress! Kaw Woon Bar on—"_

Tarriq turned the ignition on; their car coughed and died down. "We're out of gas."

* * *

Lin ran through the rooftop like a graceful jungle cat; Katara surfed along, keeping pace on a wave of water she bent below her feet. They jumped the gap to the building across the street.

"Incredible", Katara commented at Lin's seemingly superhuman feat.

"That's something we call 'Invisible Fire'", Lin said, running along Katara who let the water carry her. "An advanced firebending technique where we control the chi in our blood stream; it allows a short burst of energy. It increases agility, strength, reflexes, all that. My turn: how are you standing on water?"

"I bend a layer of ice right beneath my feet", Katara shrugged as they cleared another gap. "Fire Nation food is spicy because it helps make firebending stronger."

"Myth", Lin ducked under a series of clothesline without breaking pace. "When you use Water Tribe toilet, sometimes a turtle-seal might sneak in."

"Myth! And a blatant offense to our pride in plumbing and— _yeah_, that happens once to Sokka when we went to an ice fishing trip long time ago. Only when you live near the ocean, though. Okay, Fire Nation people only wear red."

"Myth. My wardrobe is predominantly black; goes with everything, fits every occasion. Except for mourning. Water Tribe drinks whale oil."

"Fact. It's nutritious and helps children grow. Fire Nation—", Katara halted as they leaped across to the next building block. "—only has fried food."

"Myth. One of Azula's favorites happens to be Scarlet Bird Soup and we have a respectable selection of pastries and steamed food. Water Tribe food never goes bad because it's very cold here."

"Myth. And I know because I clean Sokka's room. I found some old strips of seal jerky that could walk on its own. Fire Nation people like to duel each other over honor."

"Hmm, I'm gonna go with maybe. We have Agni Kai, the Honorable Duel of Fire, but it's for firebenders only. Okay, this is a big one that has been haunting me: sea-prune is some sort of mollusk."

"Actually, they're still studying it", Katara laughed as they arrived at the heart of Merchant District; the top of Southern Water Tribe Hotel. "You guys have tomato, fruit or vegetable; we have sea-prunes, aquatic fruit or some species of underwater invertebrate."

Lin chuckled as he leaned on the railing, huffing vapor slightly. "So, the Painted Lady?"

"She's the Spirit of Water", Katara explained. "I'm a waterbender."

"I thought she was Fire Nation", Lin said, Katara groaned.

"She's a spirit. She's has no ethnicity", she said flatly.

"Why red, then?" Lin nudged his chin at Katara's color theme, regretting it a bit as her face went solemn.

"Oh, um…" the girl evaded his eyes. "Well, when we were kids, my mom had this giant quilt; Fire Nation cotton", she lifted up her sleeve. "It's softer than fur or pelt. She told us our dad gave it to her as part of the dowry. She used to hug me and Sokka under it; she called it 'the snuggling cocoon'. Only the three of us; Dad wasn't even allowed", Katara smiled as she reminisced. "Anyway, after she died, Sokka went on this short angry phase. He tore the quilt in two and threw it away. I kept it and well…"

"Sorry", Lin said earnestly. "I've heard what happened."

"That's okay", Katara wiped the corner of her eyes. "What about you? What's your mom like?"

"I don't know", Lin shrugged, smiling sadly. "She died shortly after giving birth to me", he snickered bitterly. "I suppose that's what we have in common. Fire Nation took away our mothers."

"Don't say that!" Katara said forcefully. "It's… it's not right to think that way."

Lin simply stared at her sadly. "Race you back?" he said before jumping down.

* * *

When Katara arrived at the kitchen, back in her usual outfit, Lin was in the middle of pouring themselves a cup of tea. _Oh, great_, she thought. _I just_ _made our guest brew his own tea_. _And he's a man, too!_

Katara sat down and shrunk a little; Lin stifled a smile at her.

"Relax, I won't tell", he reassured her again, completely misreading the situation.

Katara chuckled under her breath and drank her tea.

"But, I must ask", Lin started again. "I saw you in the slumps. I saw some kind of bright light coming from the igloos. You were healing people, weren't you?"

"Yeah", Katara said.

"Why at night? I mean, can't you just show up as Katara during the day?" Lin frowned.

"It's a bit complicated", she shifted uneasily.

"It has something to do with Hakoda allowing the slums to exist, doesn't it?" Lin guessed; Katara bristled.

"He doesn't _allow_ that!" she snapped. Lin arched his brows and Katara fumed for a while before shrinking back as she realized her outburst. "I'm sorry. It's just… well, some people don't take too kindly to the rapid modernization these past couple of years. They choose to remain in the outskirt of the city, living their lives the old ways. Anyway, most of the males are hunters and here in the Water Tribe, the men always hunt at night. It's easier to sneak into their community at night."

"Oh, I see", Lin nodded. "What about those children?"

Katara chuckled. "They're my Painted Helpers", she grinned. "I ask them to be on the lookout for sick people and they would note their names, the location of their igloos, and the description of the sickness. The children would then go to the ice field and used their bending to carve the information of a chunk of ice. I would always go there before I visited their community."

"Clever", Lin laughed. Katara smiled.

A brief silence ensued in which Katara _finally_ caved in!

"I don't know", Lin replied Katara's question. "The guy saw me entering the house; he's wearing one of those weird hat that looked like saltshaker, with a writing on it—"

"Salty's Pizza", Katara said in tandem, nodding.

"I'm guessing he thought I lived here so he just handed it to me and… well, I don't have any Water Tribe money with me so I gave him my Fire Nation coins", Lin sipped his tea a bit. "He grabbed them and just ran away."

Katara winced. "Oh, you tourists are so easy. Fire Nation money might be worthless but they're rare. You can actually sell them to some small-time collectors for quite a lot."

"I'm not giving your money back, so don't get ideas", Lin inched away a bit. "But, here, you can have this back."

Katara chuckled as she snatched the candy.

"I better go to sleep", she said, putting down her empty cup. "Thanks for the tea."

When she reached the stairs, Lin called. "Hey."

Katara stopped and turned.

"If it means anything at all, I have never stepped foot on either Water Tribe as a soldier of my Nation", Lin said firmly.

Katara, as soon as she overcame her surprise, smiled back and left without a word.

Lin sipped his tea calmly. He took out his phone and typed in a text message.

_To: Iroh_

_I made contact. She has potential._

He sent it and put the phone away. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply. A floating fireball came into being in front of him; it cast an eerie light on his wispy smile.

* * *

"We gather here today…" Hakoda started, seated at the head seat on his dining table. "… for the purpose of—"

"Hey, is this for anyone", Lin pointed at the bowl of seaweed chips on the table.

"No, help yourself", Hakoda pushed the bowl to him; Katara and Sokka snickered under their breaths. Kanna, preparing tea at the stove, glared a little at the Fire Nation boy.

"Now, the purpose of Lin's visit and—"

"*crunch*…*crunch*…"

"…"

"Sorry", Lin gulped.

"The purpose of Lin's visit…" Hakoda nodded a little at their Fire Nation guest. "…will be made clear in this meeting. I have told you that he came for an inspection on his holdings here."

The table, mostly his five senior Wolf Warriors, minus Bato, and Hama exchanged glances.

"I'm sure you are aware of the Auroral Moon Festival is fast approaching", he said, looking at the people at his table one by one. "This event will be held in the Northern Water Tribe and will be attended by delegations from all Four Nations. This will be a crucial step towards unity. Lin, the twenty sixth, most of you know him…"

His Warriors grinned back at the boy, Yugoda smiled warmly; Lin grinned and they could see a piece of seaweed stuck in his teeth.

"Lin is one of the major contributors in this event. He will not be attending the event himself, if I'm not mistaken."

"No, sir."

"But, he has requested to be included in the preparation as much as possible. Naturally, we don't know where to put him."

"It's not easy being such uniquely talented man", Lin shrugged not too humbly.

"Anyway, we came up with the idea—"

"A-hem" Lin said pointedly.

"_He_ came up with the idea", Hakoda redressed amusedly. "We have let it slip that Lin, the twenty sixth, will be going to the Northern Water Tribe from the Southern Water Tribe as an emissary from the Fire Nation, bearing gifts from the Royal Family. As a gesture of good faith, the Northern Water Tribe has sent a royal cruiser ship, the _Imaq_, and a contingent of Royal Moon Warrior as an escort", Hakoda inclined his head respectfully at Yugoda.

"Now", the Chief continued. "What they don't know is that my family and I will be going along with Lin."

The table broke into low murmur.

"We have announced our departure next week; that is a decoy", Hakoda said. "Hopefully, it will fool whoever it is who may or may not try to impede our departure. After all, a billionaire and the Southern Water Tribe royals, we all know which one is the bigger fish."

"We hope that they would let Lin go and focus on our supposed departure next week", Bato added.

"Seems like a good plan", Hama commented.

"And that is what we want to talk about here", Hakoda said. "We will depart tomorrow morning. I want the itinerary for next week's flight to be carried out as if I am still here; that means Hama and the six of you…" he said to the waterbender and his Wolf Warriors, including Bato. "…will take care of the preparation as if nothing's happening. When you finally depart, keep the pretenses. We can use it as a bait to lure out anyone who might have harmful intent to me and my family and take care of them."

They nodded.

"But, Chief Hakoda", Hama raised a hand. "What about your own security? Will the Moon Warrior be enough?"

Hakoda chuckled; his Wolf Warriors exchanged grin with each other.

"Master Hama", he smiled. "I have all the faith in the skills of my children and I myself won't go down easily. Besides", he patted the shoulder of the boy sitting at his right, making Lin choke on his chips. "The Hero of the Western Shore…You know, this man once fended off a horde of bandits with nothing but a small piece of cutlery."

"My trusty fruit knife", Lin added proudly. "A birthday gift from the Princess of the Fire Nation herself. She is a bit strange."

"And the 44th", Bato added. The Warriors perked up and Lin shuffled as if he was embarrassed.

"He held an incoming rouge Fire Nation soldiers for almost a whole day, only the two of them", Hakoda laughed. "How's Spear doing nowadays?"

"Meh, the usual; drink all day, flirt all night. Your common everyday debauchery", Lin shrugged lightly.

Turning back to Hama, Hakoda said reassuringly. "If anyone studies up about this man at all, you can be sure that the _Imaq_ will face no hitch tomorrow. I have met a lot of formidable warriors in my life; none are quite like this man here."

"Aw, stop it. You're making me blush", Lin grinned smugly, waving a chip.

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Friday, Day 5, Month 7)_

The white-haired fifteen year old girl had been standing in waiting at the airfield for nearly one hour now. She was beaming at the sky in her purple anorak. They had prepared a sapphire blue carpet with golden rim for this occasion; she was waiting with her entourage of maids and Warriors at the other end of it.

Her maids had said something about waiting at the Blue Palace as the _Imaq_ would contact them should they approach the space barricade anyway but Princess Yue did not want that. Besides, her father had entrusted her with the task of receiving their honored guests and Yue wanted to make the man proud.

She did not have much of a chance to do something that is so simple for girls like her anywhere else in the world. Northern Water Tribe's tradition can be unforgiving in this aspect.

Also, she did have a personal reason for not wanting to be late. And that reason was wobbling down the _Imaq_, that had now landed smoothly in front of them, at the moment. Lin still looked strange in blue, Yue thought. His pale skin made him looked rather effeminate clad in bright blue.

Lin walked straight and proud, leading the procession with Chief Hakoda and Yugoda. He wobbled a bit and Yugoda caught his arm; Lin dismissed that with that hand and walked on his own again. Yue could not help but smile at his sickly pale countenance.

"Chief Hakoda, it is an honor to finally meet you", Yue greeted and bowed as they arrived; her entourage did the same.

"Princess Yue", Hakoda bowed back. "It is an honor to be allowed a visit to our sister Tribe."

Yue smiled at him and turned to Lin.

Lin beat her to the greeting. "It's been awhile", he grinned weakly.

Yue chuckled and moved forward, nearly ran, to hug him. She could feel the disapproving look her maids threw her but she ignored them; the smell of camphor and cajuput oil Yugoda must have applied on the airsick boy was too nostalgic to allow her to care about what her maids thought.

Yue broke off and cupped her hands on the Fire Nation's face. To Sokka and Katara's utmost surprise, the Princess kissed the boy on both cheeks; Lin cupped his hands on her face next and kissed the Princess on the top of her forehead and on the part between her brows. Yugoda beamed, Hakoda kept his expression professional, and a sharp gasp could be heard from the maids.

Southern Water Tribe might be less traditional than the Northern Tribe but even Katara and Sokka knew that it was a traditional greeting they had just witnessed. The ultimate close and intimate greeting between a male and female of the platonic persuasion usually reserved for blood siblings.

"Eight years", Yue said poutingly.

"What? We just talked two days ago", Lin said, offering his arm. "And besides, didn't you get that phone I sent you? Your old one doesn't have holographic."

"Yes, but you look tiny", Yue reasoned, walking back holding her oldest friend's arm; she pulled out her blue-silver LeaPhone. "And it's a pain to use that— that thing you told me about?"

"Aw, you'll get it one day", Lin playfully patted the girl on the head, further sending the maids into one of their shocked gasp. "The key is, of course, not holding it to your ear. Flashing the holographic view of your ear canal to someone through the phone is frowned upon in most societies."

Yue turned to the Chief on her other side. "Chief Hakoda, I have prepared a guest quarters for you and your children. Please, take some moment to rest. My father has prepared a banquet to welcome you for the evening."

"Of course, Princess", Hakoda replied politely.

The Princess brought them to the city quite unlike any Hakoda, Sokka, and Katara had ever seen before. They could not decide if it was better out worse than their Tribe; but, they silently agree that it was more beautiful.

Sokka more than the others as he stole quick glances at the girl whose hair was the moonlight itself.

The architecture was still traditionally primitive but the beauty of the carving and the structure of the ice rock was something no machines could make. The whole city was clearly handmade and by the hands of master artisans. Yue led them to a Royal Raft that would take them to the Palace by the town river network. The Princess, Hakoda, and Lin took the front seat.

As they sailed, Yue showed them the city. Sokka, sitting at the second row with Katara and Yugoda, was listening intently. Staring intently, actually. He was barely listening. And he had that grin on his face.

Katara missed the silly grin not.

"This place is beautiful", she commented lightly.

"Yeah…" Sokka sighed almost longingly at a certain white-haired Princess. "She is."

* * *

At the feast, they were entertained like brothers and sisters of the Tribe, even Lin.

After much pestering, made worse by the fact that Hakoda shared a room with his children, Hakoda had said something rather vague about he and Water Tribe Warriors he led to the War owing Lin a debt of gratitude, and vice versa. And although they were separate and lived their lives quite differently, the Northern and Southern Water Tribes see themselves as one at a rather subconscious level. The way they saw it, the Northern Tribe, like their Southern sister, owed Lin their friendship as well.

Also, their Princess was his close personal friend, so…

Seated at the same highest table as the Northern Water Tribe Chief Arnook were Hakoda and Lin. The table had better and more food, obviously.

The lower table at which Sokka and Katara were sitting was smaller and had less of the fine Northern Water Tribe comestibles. But, it had a Princess Yue sitting right beside him. How can Sokka complain?

Sokka quickly swallowed his food. "Hi, there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe", he greeted the Princess; charm cranked up, suave all around. Or, in his mind it was.

"Very nice to meet you", Yue greeted gracefully.

Arnook stood and bellowed to the room. "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!"

The tall lanky balding gray-haired waterbender master and his two students began performing his bending dance. Katara was clearly impressed at the amount of water he and the other two males controlled; and neatly too. Not a splash fell from the water. Katara doubt even her sifu Hama had such precise control over the element. But, then again, she noticed some differences in their styles. She could not put her fingers on it.

Her brother and the Princess' 'conversation' did nothing to help her concentration.

"So…uhhh, you're a Princess, huh?" Sokka started again; Yue nodded rather enthusiastically but mostly because she had never been put in such situation before and she just thought it would be the proper response to such thing. It seemed enough for Sokka. "You know, back in my tribe, I'm kind of like a Prince myself."

Yue mentally snorted. Respectfully, of course. Sokka had just reminded her of a rather snappy conjecture she had formed when she first saw their guests arrived. Sokka had been wearing his full armor and walked beside the girl Yue knew was the Princess of the Southern Tribe. So, it was easy for the Northern Princess to mistake Sokka for a bodyguard. It wasn't until she noticed only the slight differences in Hakoda's armor and the boy's did she realized her mistake. Yue was more used to the culture where people of higher social standing looked the part and Hakoda and Sokka's armor looked almost indistinguishable from the two other Wolf Warriors travelling with them.

The other Princess, however, had less self-control. "Ha! Prince of what?" Katara butted in sarcastically.

"A lot of things!" Sokka snapped at her. "Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!"

So, being a little sister, Katara bowed sarcastically. "My apologies, _Prince_ Sokka."

Scowling a little at her, Sokka turned back to Princess. "So, it looks like I'm going to be in town for a while", he started with his earlier suave. "I'm thinking… maybe we could… do an activity together?"

Yue chuckled and frowned amusedly. "Do an… activity?"

The Blue Palace Hall is an architectural wonder. Ice sculpture covered with ice rock for extra reinforcement. There is something about the size of the room, the positioning of the beams, the carefully calibrated level of the dais and platforms, the positioning of the main platform. Chief Arnook's seat was positioned in the acoustic sweet spot where he, and those sharing his seat, could hear every conversation from anywhere in the room. They could hear Katara teasing Sokka who stuffed his mouth with as much food as possible before he could embarrass himself further. "Very smooth."

"Did Sokka just suggest what I think he was suggesting?" Lin asked hesitatingly. At Arnook's other side, Hakoda winced while still keeping his face dignified. "Just so you know, Hakoda", Lin said to the Southern Chief. "I consider Yue a sister. I may need to give Sokka either the 'keep your horny hands off of her' or the 'if you ever hurt her' speech. Chief Arnook, may I burrow a rifle from your armory?"

"I will have to talk to my son", Hakoda sighed deeply.

"Also, no offense to your mother's cooking", Lin said to Hakoda, biting into his seaweed roll. "But, the Northern food is a lot better; milder in taste. By the way, this wrapper part is not made of flour, is it?"

"It is, actually", Arnook said with a grin matching Hakoda's. It worried Lin.

"And is the flour made of plants?" Lin asked uneasily.

"Maybe", Arnook took a bite of his own seaweed roll. Teasing foreigners with their Water Tribe food never got old.

"Thank you for indulging in my ignorance", Lin nodded courteously. Could be the snowberry wine in his system, he was not sure, but his well-honed reflex kicked in just in time as he tried to catch the piece of ice flying to his head.

Keyword: _tried_.

The feast grew quiet as the ice chunk slipped the guest's hand and shattered on the side of his head, showering their table with icicle. Lin turned his head slowly to the waterbender master, grinning like a demon. It the moment Sokka and Katara finally believed that Lin truly had been to the War. No one could look so vicious without ever having experienced the ugly side of humanity.

"It seems like our performance is not pleasant enough for our esteemed guest", Pakku started quaintly. He found it a little rude that his performance was brushed off by the guest of honor just like that. "We often heard that Lin, the twenty sixth, is a firebending prodigy. Perhaps he would like to… _demonstrate_", the last word was dripping wet with his trademarked condensation.

Lin simply grinned. He jumped down to the platform suddenly, clearing the space with one single leap. Straightening up slowly, never taking his amber off of the mocking blue, he nodded a little and, without as much as a stance, a series of unforgiving fire blast to Pakku. All Sokka saw was fire being shot from a person's fingertips and he thought it was kind of cool. Katara, being a bender herself, noticed how feeble the power behind that fire attack was. She did not know about the effect of temperature on a person's firebending.

Katara's low assessment of Lin's prowess did not last long though. Pakku took his sweet time reforming the water wall into a stream of leaping water blast; Lin conjured up a fireball and molded it with some very precise hand movements that Katara found somewhat familiar. Just like the difference he noticed in Pakku's waterbending, she was having a hard time figuring out what it was.

The blast Lin sent was smaller than Pakku's water but it hit Pakku's attack head on and the two Elements exploded into a puff of mist and vapor. Katara felt her mouth opening slightly. Lin wasted no time to dash forward with trailing flames on each hand with the obvious intention of bringing the fight, sorry, _spar_, on close quarter.

Pakku flicked his wrist forward and several ice daggers stopped the Fire Nation boy; Lin brought his hand together and his flames expanded into impenetrable fire shield. Pakku was fast despite his look. Soon, they were whipping their Elements on each other; Fire vaporized the hissing water and Water ate out the flickering flame. Pakku seemed keen on keeping Lin at a safe distance.

Lin suddenly spun and sent a low arc of flame with a leg sweep; Pakku leaped over it effortlessly. Lin's left palm thrust out and the mass of flame solidified into a missile of fiery death that Pakku defended against by turning his whips into a circular water wall. Lin quickly twirled his last fire whip in front of him like a gymnast would the ribbon stick. With a sharp battle cry, Lin punched shapely and the flame jumped forward as a particularly wicked sharp fire javelin.

Pakku had the mind to jump sideways while bending his water like a matador evading a bull, the fire javelin, with the cloth, the water. His water veil failed to extinguish the flame as the fire javelin flew and collided with the edge of the circular platform, destroying the part it hit.

Lin eased up on his stance, Pakku followed his gesture; it was the latter who bowed first, wordlessly announcing the end of the spar. Lin bowed back with a proud Fire Nation bow. The crowd exploded into a cheer, especially so since the spar ended with a draw.

After all, on a gathering for such auspicious occasion, when Fire and Water had to collide, a draw is always the best way to go.

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Saturday, Day 6, Month 7, morning)_

Sokka was walking down the street. The beauty of the architecture had been lost to him since before dinner. He had asked around and apparently, there was a cybercafé at the… somewhere. The Northern Water Tribe city was carved on intricate roads and streets wide enough for travel on foot. The reigning urban vehicles were the canoes and rafts floating across their canal system. Sokka was more used to the Southern Water Tribe vast roads and streets and the wide gaps between buildings; Northern Water Tribe densely packed houses and roads felt slightly agoraphobic for him.

He was trying his luck by walking across the bridge in front of him, the youth he had asked did say something about 'the district across the bridge', and he found the first ray of sunshine for the day. On the canal below the bridge, Princess Yue appeared, sitting alone in her canoe, driven by a waterbender.

Before he knew it, Sokka was running down the circular stairway leading to the level below, calling her name.

"Princess Yue, good morning!" he caught up and leveled his pace on the narrow walkway with the canoe. "How about that picnic last night? Boy, your dad sure does know how to throw a party."

"I'm happy you enjoyed yourself", Yue replied friendlily.

And no, no… Sokka did not know why he said. "Well, it wasn't as much fun after you left."

But, it sure made Yue blush. Sokka himself felt warm around the cheeks, scratching the back of his head to calm himself. He suddenly felt weird about his hands and was wondering why walking never felt so right before. People should walk more.

Quickly he added. "So, I'm still hoping we could see more of each other", before he chickened out but it came out calm and perfectly pitched; in short, better than he was aiming for.

"Do an activity, you mean?" Yue smiled a little.

"Yes!" ah, the girl had a brain. And pretty. Sokka's type! "…at a place… for some time…" he felt himself faltering again, so Sokka did the only thing a guy could do in his position; grin and do so stupidly.

"I'd love to", Yue chuckled and Sokka never felt so light before. "I'll meet you on that bridge tonight", she gestured at the bridge they were about to cross.

"Great! I'll see you— Arrgh!" that's it! Sokka officially hated Northern Water Tribe city layout.

Yue laughed and said. "Sorry."

Sokka climbed up of the water and waved. "That's okay", he sprawled down on his back. "It was worth it", his voice trailed off. "See you tonight."

Strange, Sokka suddenly like this city.

* * *

Yue, however, never felt so suffocated before. She loved her Tribe; never doubt that. But sometimes, not often, she found herself lost here. Not often and never for long. She needed only remind herself of her duty to her Tribe. Her anchor in the uncertainty of life: duty.

"Okay, what's wrong now?" Lin's voice snapped her off her thought. "You have been awfully quiet. Did Sokka make you cry?" he asked the last question with a saccharine tone.

He suffered a splat of snowball on his face for that.

"Come on", Lin sat on the pile of snow by the girl's side. "You know you can talk to me."

Could she really, Yue asked herself. Ever since the day she had found him half-buried in snow in the ice plain they were in eight years ago, they had become friends. Growing up with hair that was the color of snow was not easy and children could be cruel and not know it. Lin had been her first friend, her first defender. Yue had never burdened her parents with an affair so silly as this and Lin had been the first person who had ever defended her from the cruel bullying she had suffered.

Yue had not truly decided if she could confide in Lin, burdening him with this affair. She only knew that she did.

"Oh, Yue", Lin sighed, embracing the crying girl and patting her on the back, not at all sure if Yue felt that since the Water Tribe jackets and gloves they were wearing were quite thick and puffy. "I'm sorry."

"I don't know why I did that. I don't know what to do anymore", the Princess sobbed, gripping the front of Lin's jacket with her gloved hands. "I have a duty to my people. I know that but… it's so difficult sometimes…"

"No, it's not. Trust me", Lin said after Yue had calmed down a bit. "Duty makes things easier. At least, that's the case in the warfront", he shrugged. "It tells you what to do and justify your action. When you listen to your heart, it is always uncertain. It casts you groping in the dark for a way out that may or may not be there."

Lin sighed before continuing. "Duty is like water to a fish. The fish lives in it, can't life without it even. You take a fish out of the water, it will die eventually. But, do you know that some evolution theorist believe that lizards actually descended from fish? At some point in the prehistoric time, some fish swam up the shore and evolve into lizards and stuff. Anyway, it shows that there is a possibility that fish _can_ survive without water. However, I can't imagine it must be comfortable for those fish to live out of the water at the beginning. Duty is like water to a fish", he repeated. "It makes thing easier."

"So, you're saying I should fulfill my duty and go through with it?" Yue sniffed.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Spirits, _no_", Lin denied quickly, Yue chuckled. "I'm just… Your argument was flawed. I can't help myself. Sorry", he said guiltily.

Yue laughed a little.

"Look, Yue", Lin said a little more seriously. "I won't ask you to abandon your duty; it's just not my nature, I'm Fire Nation. However, at the same time, I won't ask you to simply ignore your heart. I've been there and trust me, it hurts. So much, at some point I thought about…" he stopped suddenly, realizing that he had started babbling.

"Just… Yue", Lin tried again, staring deep into the ocean blue of the girl's. "Whatever happens, I'm on your side, okay", Yue nodded and Lin continued. "Just promise me that you will think about this carefully. Remember that the Auroral Summer—"

"Moon."

"—_that_… Festival is important. It will be an international event", he said seriously. "The Four Nations are still recovering from the War and… the War, Yue… the wounds are still fresh and they will leave deep scars that won't fade away completely. Just… decide carefully, okay."

"I know", Yue mumbled and then she snickered bitterly. "Duty."

"Yeah", Lin smiled, pecked her on the forehead, and left his chin there. "Easy, isn't it?"

"I really don't know what to do", Yue said again sadly, feeling a fresh surge of tears swelling up in her eyes.

"Give it time", Lin said, breaking away. "Let it breathe. Timing is a key factor most people seldom take into consideration. I never know why."

Yue chuckled again. "I do miss you."

"Why, thank you", Lin said teasingly. "But, you have enough problem with Sokka and… well, do _try_ to—"

"I will not hesitate to use this", Yue threatened with a snowball.

"Okay, okay", Lin tried to take the snowball but Yue would not let him.

"Do you remember when we met here?" Yue asked, solemn again.

"You slapped me… twice", Lin rubbed his cheek, Yue chuckled.

"You were unconscious. I was just trying to…" she sighed, smiling a bit. "Anyways, do you remember what you said to me?"

"Um… 'ouch'… 'I must be hungry'…? I'm the running the moment, am I?"

"Yup."

"Sorry. Please, continue."

"You said that we are who we are. Nothing can change that", Yue reminisced fondly, kicking snow under her feet. "You got me over my low self-esteem regarding my hair. And then you asked me what I like; I said I would like to be one of those children, I wanted to be their friend. You said I could be whatever I want. I _am_ whatever I want. I just have to make it happen."

"The simple logic of a ten year old", Lin sighed to the sky. "It would be nice if everyone hold on those simple logics, would it not?"

"It doesn't always work, I suppose", Yue conceded but she smiled rather brightly. "But, it does give a good perspective. I accept you and consider you a very close friend even though you're a Fire Nation. I suppose, I just like you for who you are. And besides, look at you now! I always thought that after you resigned from the Army you would go on teaching firebending or something. I never would have thought you would go into business and actually succeed at it. Remember when I make fun of you the first few months after you open your company?"

"You called me a 'piggybank wannabe'. I see the connection with money but I never get what that really means", Lin shrugged.

"Well, the point is, you stick to it", Yue smiled proudly. "You keep doing what you like and look at you now. You like what you like and you become what you like. You are what you like."

"In that case, I should have been large breasts", Lin argued.

"Wha— oh, whoa… large breasts, really?"

"Oh, honey", Lin patted the girl's head endearingly. "Why do you think it can never be between us?"

"Wh— _what_?!" Yue spluttered, going crimson at an alarmingly pace.

"Too soon?" Lin managed before a large snowball hit him on the face.

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Saturday, Day 6, Month 7, night)_

Yue was leaning against the railing on the bridge. _The_ bridge.

She was looking up to the moon up there, hanging above the clear summer night sky. Stars blinking around it, like clapping and applause directed at its majestic lunar beauty. She was smiling and for a moment there she forgot about everything. The Moon soothed her in a way no one, not even Lin and his perpetual joker persona could.

Yue barely heard the footsteps tapping closer to her from the canal walkway, up the circular stairs, and to her side.

"Hi, Princess Yue", Sokka greeted.

Yue turned to him and the moment she looked into those blue orbs of his, and the fact that his jovial childish glee shone brightly in them, Yue suddenly knew that she was making a mistake.

"I made you something", Sokka said, oblivious to the turmoil the white-haired Princess was facing. "I carved it myself", he presented the carving in his gloved hand.

It was bad. Really bad. Yue could only guess that… "It's a bear."

"Actually, it's supposed to be a fish", Sokka turned the carving in his hand and, yeah, now Yue could see that the two protruding part on one end of it could be fishtail. "See, it has a… fin."

Fish…

_Duty is like water to a fish…_

"Oh", Yue said, still fixing her gaze at the carving. She turned to Sokka and said. "I'm sorry", and quickly looked away. "I made a mistake", oh, indeed, I have, the Princess berated herself. "I shouldn't have asked you to come here."

Before she knew it, she was running aimlessly.

Sokka was stunned as he watched the Princess' departure.

In the dead silence of the night, Yue could hear Sokka's angry grunt as he threw the carving to the river.

* * *

Hakoda was in their guest quarter. More like a cottage, separate from the Blue Palace. The Northern Water Tribe certainly had a rather regal interpretation of hospitality. Hakoda was raised in the culture where sharing one's house and the content of one's cooking pot was the utmost hospitable one can become. The Northern Water Tribe believed more in providing the best quarter and food they could give –separately-, like the rest of the world.

Their guest cottage was a comfortable one room ice building with interior wall covered with pelts and floor by a white rug made of buffalo-yak pelt. They had no furniture and sleep in sleeping bags. Hakoda was a bit skeptical about it but he was used to rugged living style and Sokka and Katara seemed happy enough with the warm rug.

Speaking of which, Katara entered the cottage with a sour face; Hakoda stopped sharpening his machete and watch the girl take out her sleeping bag, lay it down the floor, and collapsed face first on it.

"How's waterbending training going?" he asked sunnily; Katara's head rose and gave him a glare. "That bad, huh?"

Sokka entered next and he did not look better.

"How's warrior training going?" Hakoda asked the boy; Sokka threw his sleeping bag on the floor and kicked it hard. "That bad, huh?"

Sokka simply lied down on his front, resting his head on the bundled up sleeping bag next to his sister. Sighing, Hakoda moved to the spot between them and mimicked their posture. He sighed deeply, oh so deeply. His children ignored him so he sighed again. They ignored him still and Hakoda draped his arms around them and sighed again.

Katara was the first to cave in.

"What's bothering you, Dad?" she asked, chuckling a bit.

"They didn't serve sea-prunes tonight", Hakoda lamented. "And Sokka ate all my sea-prune cake."

Katara chuckled, Sokka bristled.

"Hey, I warned you to bring extra! And did you listen to me? Nooo! Why would anyone listen to silly old Sokka and his warning", Sokka huffed. "I told you, I had a hunch."

"Yeah, like you had a hunch about Yuna secretly being a Fire Nation spy because she kept throwing up one day after eating our Water Tribe food?" Katara shot dryly.

"Hey! No self-respecting Water Tribe can find sea-prunes and seaweed noodle disgusting!"

"She was pregnant, you dungbrain!"

Not exactly a resolve, Hakoda thought as he watched his children bickered, holding Katara behind her back lest she jumped at her brother. But, a distraction is sometimes what they needed.

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Sunday, Day 7, Month 7, morning)_

"You know, I actually like this", Lin commented at the seaweed roll he and Yue was enjoying. Sheets of 'not-flour' mixed with strips of dried seaweed, wrapped around filings made of savory chewy fresh seaweed and bits of fish and cubes of goat cheese, and deep-fried._ 'Everything's better when it's deep-fried'_, Lin had said multiple times to Yue, which had led to her thoughtfully making sure the cooks prepared their best deep-fried delicacies for the Fire Nation. "And it's a lot better if you add hot sauce", he pulled out a tiny bottle of crimson red liquid and dropped some in the roll. He took a bite and Yue could not help but smile at how happy he actually looked. "Want a bite?"

"Sure", Yue shrugged. Lin put on some hot sauce and Yue took a bite. She teared up almost instantly. "That's… nice", she coughed, fanning her face.

"Oh, you Water Tribe have no appreciation for fine condiment", Lin said flatly. "Go… eat snow or something. That should help."

Yue still managed a chuckle as she slapped Lin on the back. They resumed their walk down the grand stairs leading away from the Palace in relative silence; mainly because Lin was busy enjoying the rest of his meal and Yue was just doing her best to enjoy his company as a distraction from her aching heart and burning tongue.

"That's official", Lin declared as he finished his last bite. "Northern Water Tribe cuisine is better than the Southern Water Tribe. You've been awfully quiet today. What's wrong?"

Yue waited until they reached the ground level; it was a tall stairways and they were not exactly walking fast.

"It's nothing", she said with a smile. While she trusted Lin, she did not feel right burdening him with her problem. "Really, it's nothing", she repeated under Lin's skeptical narrowed eyes.

"Well, if you say so. Katara, stop", Lin said kindly to Yue and, without changing his tone or taking his supportive smile off Yue's way, he halted Katara by gripping her arm.

"What?" Katara yanked her arm free.

"Stop bugging the old dude. Trust me, you don't want to mess with him", Lin said grimly.

"You messed with him", Katara grumbled.

"_He_ messed with _me_", Lin corrected. "Just accept it: this is _not_ the Southern Water Tribe. Stay… away… from the waterbending ground!"

"I'm just going to watch", Katara argued heatedly. "Or what? Is it forbidden for women to watch waterbending too?"

"Katara, you really shouldn't—", Yue started meekly and Katara cut her in.

"Or what?!" she snapped. "He's gonna forbid me from learning healing too?!"

Fuming, she stomped away towards the training ground. Yue and Lin watched her departure with a healthy dose of apprehension.

"This may not end well", Lin muttered; more to himself as he watched the subtle crack on the steps as Katara walked past them. He surmised it to be the waterbending equivalent of torches and candles bursting into wild flames when an irate firebender was around the vicinity. That must be it, Lin thought. Katara was nowhere near fat.

"What _is_ between you and Master Pakku?" Yue asked curiously. "He never instigated a fight with anyone before. Not without a good reason."

"We have history", Lin replied lightly. "Fire and Water don't mix."

"We're Fire and Water. We mix just fine", Yue pointed out.

"Aw, you're not Water. You're… Snow", he said. "Basically Water but prettier."

"Are you flirting with me?" Yue narrowed her eyes.

"What?! No, of course not", Lin bristled. "What gave you that idea?"

"Hmm", Yue scrutinized the boy before her deeply. "I should like to meet this Azula. Any girl who is capable of loving you romantically must be a saint with wings and halo and have discovered the Secret Wisdom of the Universe _and_ the ability to revive the dead. Who knows; she might be able to provide a solution for my problem."

* * *

The Northern Water Tribe waterbending training ground was located in an ice field on a hill at the east side of the Palace. The place was basically a raised platform made of bent mound of snow. They did not use ice rock in the making of the platform because ice rock, though waterbendable, was difficult to turn into water. This was why Water Tribe people like to use it as a sort of coating layer on their walls and floors; imagine raising a bunch of sugar-high waterbending children if their slight scream could turn their whole house into liquid. Ice rock might be bendable but its bending-resistance quality make housing hyperactive waterbending children more bearable.

Anyway, overlooking that platform was a circular tall mound of snow they had gathered there for a rather specific purpose. For their training, Pakku and his students drew their water directly from the platform. At the end of each training session, Pakku would never neglect ordering his underachieving students to bend the snow to the platform to replace the lost substance. It was sort of training as a punishment.

Katara found that mound of snow to be loose and hard to climb; it was like trying to climb to the top of mountain made of powdered sugar. She dared not bend them to make them more solid for the fear of disintegrating the snow completely, hence plunging her to the ground where her gender was not welcomed.

Still, she managed the best she could. She had started to get the gist of the Northern style. Maybe. The more she watched them, the more she understood, and the more she wanted to learn. She had a natural curiosity of things she understood and loved. It ran in the family; just look at Sokka and Hakoda. Sokka spent his money buying mechanical junks online; Hakoda spent his free time tinkering with stuff that mostly exploded in his face. They both had a shared knack in pyrotechnic –in Sokka's case: accidental pyrotechnic - but they were strangely secretive about it from each other.

They both confided in Katara, both having some strange thirst for her approval in their 'hobby'; like when Hakoda showed her the smoke-minefield he had invented that produced a puff of thick smoke that impaired vision, or when Sokka showed her what he did with Carrie the… car when he fixed that rocket engine. Katara thought of it as one of those things when boys flex their muscles at girls. Kanna had always been disinterested at the boys' antics and Katara was chosen by default.

They had expressed that they did not want the other to know about their hobbies though. Hakoda had a valid reason for his worries; Sokka and explosives were never a good combination. Sokka had more trouble keeping his stuff hidden since he lived with his family and Hakoda knew he liked to tinker with machines; Sokka only worried that their father would find out that he often nicked some spare parts from the Warriors' arsenal for his personal use.

Katara found the secret-keeping ridiculous but kept them anyway because she wanted to know how long the 'secrets' would stay. And, frankly, she did not care that much. She was just grateful that the 'machine/science savvy' trait skipped her over and she had inherited more of her mother's gene instead.

What she did not realize is that she inherited the headstrong, _'I'd-do-anything-to-get-my-way (within-limits)'_ mentality that was so strong in her father and brother. Once they set their belief in something, there was little they would not do and their ability to justify their questionable action would grow almost limitless. Hakoda once freed a 'good' Fire Nation commander from the Earth Kingdom custody and Sokka justified his larceny by telling himself over and over that he only took things that people would not use anyway and only sat around collecting dust (really, he would only take things if they had a layer of dust on it).

Katara had been forbidden to enter the ground when she arrived the previous day and expressed her desire to watch, just watch, the training session. Pakku had said that women were not allowed to even be _on_ the training ground.

Well, technically, Katara was not _on_ the training ground; she was _above_ it. There, a good enough justification.

Pakku, as you might expect, did not think so. He found it insulting on so many levels. First, the blatant disregard for his warning; second, the plain disrespect to his culture, as if the first one was not rude enough; the third, and the most hurtful, was this insult to his intelligence. Like hell he could not see the snow falling from the sport when she was perching precariously on top of the mound. Besides, Pakku could see the top of her head poking with such contrast on the pure white snow it almost hurt his eyes.

And, by the Moon and the Ocean, it felt _good_ when he turned the snow beneath her into a blob of water that swallowed her whole and slammed the whole thing onto the platform.

Katara, on the ground coughing and gasping for air, realized that she was completely dry despite having just been encased in an orb of water. She hated Pakku's gut but even she had to admit that the balding sexist bastard who looked so much like an ugly catfish knew his craft.

"Oh, look what the wave swept in", Pakku began condescendingly. "You are in a big trouble, little girl."

For the life of her, Katara simply did not see what the big deal was. She was just going to watch.

She wholeheartedly believed that there was no call for summoning Chief Arnook and his whole council, or for her father to apologize publicly like that. But, that was what happening in the Blue Palace Hall. On the middle ground with Sokka, their father, and Lin who was showing up out of solidarity to Hakoda, she had to bear through admonition by Chief Arnook. Pakku, the sexist jerk, by some messed up stroke of luck, was a member of the Council and sat with the other old fogeys, peering down on her with a smug look on his face. Worse yet was the fact that Pakku was seated on Arnook's immediate left on the pedestal the Chief and the waterbender master occupied with Princess Yue; Pakku must have been a very high ranking member of the Council.

"Again, I apologize for my daughter's behavior", Hakoda bowed deeply; Katara noticed from the corner of her eyes that Lin was doing the same but with his Fire Nation hand gesture. "I will make sure that none of this will happen again."

"This is not a big deal in and of itself", Chief Arnook said fairly. "And you should not be held responsible for a mistake that is not your own, Chief Hakoda. I suspect Master Pakku will let this slide if your daughter swallows her pride and apologizes to him."

_Oh, that would _not_ end well_, Lin mentally grimaced. Sokka turned to his sister with a tiny show of fear on his face and Hakoda, while still keeping his face flat and his eyes trained on the Council, immediately conceded defeat in his mind.

Katara looked like she had just been asked to drink a cup of juiced _*beep*_ with a cup made of more _*beep*_ while swimming in an ocean of _*beep*._ She scowled deeply and turned to her father hoping he would say or do something that would get her out of this. She and Sokka were standing behind Hakoda and Lin and all she could see was her father's back and how big it suddenly looked to her.

Her father… her strong, honorable father.

Twice Lin had commended her father on his honor; twice a former Fire Nation soldier had commended a Water Tribe Chief, one who had been his enemy during the War no doubt, on his honor. Katara was still pissed at Pakku and the stupid sexist Northern Tradition but, by the Moon, she was hurting inside too for putting her honorable father through this. He must be so embarrassed, Katara thought.

And so, the dutiful daughter swallowed her pride and said. "Fine", with an acceptable amount of sass.

It sure made Pakku's day. With a triumphant smirk, he practically sang. "I'm waiting, little girl."

And that did it!

Hakoda, Sokka, and Lin mentally swore different swear words.

Katara was fuming and gripped her fists so hard her nails dug onto her palms and she was trembling with anger. "No!" she exclaimed. "No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" she finished with some rude (but justified) finger pointing, cracking ice below her feet two nearby water pots inadvertently.

"Uh… Katara…?" Sokka called weakly; speaking from his experience, when ice started to break around Katara, things always ended up with pain. Physical pain.

Hakoda had begun to prepare mentally for the prospect of a civil war and Lin was wondering if he could continue to operate in the Northern Water Tribe should the civil war Hakoda was thinking about broke out now that his close friendship with Hakoda had come to light.

And as if the intra-Water Tribes relationship had not been tested enough, Katara just had to add. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me."

Yue gasped audibly; the rest of the room was just as shocked. Pakku simply scowled.

Without waiting, Katara began walking out of the room. Sokka quickly went after her. Hakoda and Lin exchanged worried glances.

"I'm sure she didn't mean that", Lin said optimistically.

"Yeah, I think she did", Hakoda replied with less optimism.

Giving an encouraging smile to Hakoda, Lin went out after the siblings while Hakoda addressed the court once more, assuring them that he would try to get Katara to change her mind. Yes, he did say 'try' and no, he did not feel like promising anything at this point.

When Lin finally caught up to the pair at the stairways leading to the ground, Sokka was in the middle of scolding his sister. "Are you crazy, Katara? You're not going to win this fight!"

"I know!" she snapped, taking off her coat and throwing it to him. "I don't care! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!"

They reached the ground and Lin was about to try to dissuade the girl from the path of destruction when Katara unexpectedly spoke to the figure walking up behind him. "So, you decided to show up?" she said indignantly to the old man walking down and away calmly without as much as looking her way. "Aren't you gonna fight?!"

Still without the courtesy of turning around or even stopping, Pakku replied dismissively. "Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong", and suffered an unexpected water whips on his head. Pakku halted. "Fine", anger management be darned. "You want to learn to fight so bad?" he grinned wickedly. "Study closely!"

From the two nearby pond, he bent the ready water, joining the two streams into one that blasted the girl away. Katara had quickly run up to him during the bending process, hoping to get him on close quarter.

"Hey, that's my move", Lin said in tandem with Sokka's. "Hey, that's your move."

With precise control, the giant wave moved and danced around them, forming a large water ring that kept the two of them in the loop, encircling them forcefully. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" Pakku taunted as he bent the water closer and closer to the girl's back, intimidating her footing.

Katara redirected the ring with a forceful and sharp hand movement; the water blasted away at Sokka who fell backward with a loud "Ow!"

"That's it, buddy. Breathe through the pain", Lin goaded him; Hakoda had arrived at the opportune moment to watch his son being blasted and simply grimaced in sympathy. Lin turned to Hakoda. "Now, I'm guessing any moment now you're going to give me the 'she got it from her mother's side' argument."

"Actually, she got it from _my_ mother", Hakoda corrected Lin.

Pakku formed a large wave that he froze, forcing Katara to leap over it and landed on the base pillar of the stairway. Pakku wasted no time to reform his ice wall into a large wave of water that he sent towards Katara. Almost instinctively, Katara froze his feet on the pillar for support and redirected the wave into two smaller waves that passed her by harmlessly.

"You can't knock me down!" she declared. The gathering crowd cheered.

"She's good", Lin commented. "Really good. She's almost a master, I believe?"

"Almost", Hakoda emphasized. "That's the keyword here."

"I could have probably told her my assessment on Pakku; I've fought him three times before, including the last one, and I noticed quite a bit of crack in Pakku's style that she could take advantage of."

Hakoda arched his brows at Lin.

"But, I won't", Lin said. "Fact is, Katara's going to lose either way. This is a waterbending fight and— _uuh_…" he winced as Katara was blasted away by Pakku. "As much as I hate to admit it, Pakku is the best waterbender in the galaxy. Losing to one such as him might actually do Katara good. Winning will just inflate her ego further."

Katara finally got close enough for close quarter but Lin and Hakoda, both seasoned warriors, knew that it was only because Pakku let her. Lin, knowing Pakku rather well, knew that it was because Pakku wanted to show how futile Katara's effort was and what better way to show it by blasting her to the pond when she thought she finally had an advantage. Katara had picked the mode of battle and Pakku brought her down with just one blow.

Katara emerged soaking wet, submerged from the waist down in the pond; the children cheered for her for standing up. It would not come as a surprise that children hated Master Pakku. Katara formed a small pillar of ice from the pond water and, sliding her hand on the surface of the cut-up tree-trunk-like pillar, she sent a series of thin sharp ice disk to Pakku who slapped most of them away.

The last one he evaded as it flew so close to his head he could see his reflection on it.

Katara sent a large water stream at Pakku; Pakku caught it and bent it with more grace, spinning it around him as he dissipated the kinetic force of the water and let it fall behind him. Katara took the opportunity to charge ahead but Pakku sent the stream of water creeping on the snowy ground onto Katara. It engulfed her and pushed her backward.

Huffing, Katara leaped up and tumbled the two pillars behind Pakku, switching offense to the less obvious kind, hoping to catch Pakku by surprise. Pakku caught on and bent the falling blocks of ice before it could hit him. He reduced the artistically carved blocks of ice totem into vapor.

"Well, I'm impressed", Pakku said almost amusedly as the vapor disappear. "You are an excellent waterbender."

"But, you still won't teach me, will you?" Katara heaved a little; her hair had gotten messy from the fight.

"No", Pakku answered without hesitation before he found himself raising a tall pillar of ice from the ground to defend against Katara's forcing a wave of ice his way.

Pakku liquefied the pillar into a crashing wave and rode it towards the girl, going strong for the offense. Katara sent a wave that hit Pakku's ride but the master simply raised an arcing wall of ice and slid on it with an excellent show of balance, and managed to strike the girl hard as he slid past.

He knocked the girl and her necklace to the ground and her hair off her braid.

Pakku had grown tired of this; the girl was visibly exhausted. So, he decided to end it. He summoned a stream of water from the pond behind him and sent the water spiraling fast up in the air. It rained down long sharp thin spears of ice that trapped the girl like a wild animal.

The crowd was dumbfounded. Yugoda gasped silently as she brought her hands to her mouth, expecting the worse; a child went to hug his mother, thinking the worst.

Katara opened her eyes, realizing that she was still alive. She tried to free herself but the thin spears of ice that trapped her was deceptively tough,

"This fight is over", Pakku declared as he walked away nonchalantly.

Katara would not have it. "Come back here! I'm not finished yet!"

"Yes", Pakku argued, not even slowing down. "You are."

He halted though as he noticed the blue object on the ground. He picked it up and recognized it instantly. "This… is my necklace."

Hakoda was stunned, Lin was simply confused, Sokka was grossed out.

"No, it's not! It's mine! Give it back!" Katara struggled.

Pakku was lost in his own world. "I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life..." he said; his face, tone, and ice spears melted as he said. "For Kanna."

Hakoda was stunned even more, Lin was still confused, Sokka threw up a bit in his mouth.

"You knew my Gran Gran?" Katara asked in disbelieved. "She's a Northerner? She was engaged to _you_?"

"Boy, did you dodge a bullet there or what", Lin nudged Hakoda a bit.

"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged", Pakku said, never taking his hands off the necklace, holding it gingerly like it was a sacred artifact. "I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her."

Lin thought he looked almost human.

"But, she didn't love you, did she?" Katara asked in a gentler tone as she approached the old man. "Gran Gran that I know is stubborn and proud. It was an arranged marriage. She wouldn't let your Tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left", she said as Pakku pressed the necklace to his chest. "It must have taken a lot of courage.

Yue, listening to the whole conversation, simply could not hold it anymore. Before she knew it, she was sobbing as she ran away from the scene. Arnook watched her leave in disbelief. Lin felt obliged to see to her and started running the same time Sokka did; they froze and looked at each other awkwardly. Lin blinked twice slowly as series of calculation and prediction ran through his mind. He sighed and eased up. Smiling a little at Sokka, he said. "Go get her."

Sokka complied.

Needless to say, with his luck, Sokka got lost and finally found Yue at the bridge after nightfall. _The_ bridge.

"What do you want from me?" Yue asked as coldly as she could as she heard his footsteps coming closer.

"Nothing", Sokka said; he surprised himself at how calm he sounded and how brave he felt when he said the next words. "I just want you to know that I think you're beautiful and", he paused for half a second. "I never thought a girl like you would even notice a guy like me."

Yue was wrecked inside. "You don't understand."

"No, no. See, that's the thing. I think I do understand now", he really thought he did, or rather, he did all along and he was just realizing it now. "You're a Princess, and I'm... I'm just a guy from the backwater Southern Tribe."

"No", Yue argued. "Sokka—"

"It's okay", Sokka interrupted her; he did love the girl despite the short time he had known her and he did not want to put her through the pain. "You don't have to say anything. I'll see you around, okay?" he smiled, turned and walked away.

Before he knew it, he was in heaven. Such sweet lips the Northern Water Tribe Princess had. When she broke away, Sokka was back to earth where things don't make sense. "Okay, now I'm reeeally confused", he confessed. "_Happy"_, he stressed as he caught gripped the Princess' gloved hand. "But, confused."

Yue had some confessions of her own. "I _do_ like you, a lot", being the highlight. "But we can't be together, and not for the reason you think. It's because..." she tugged down her collar and showed her the betrothal necklace around her neck. "I'm engaged", and that was the suckiest confession of all.

Sokka flinched. He could not believe his ears.

"I'm sorry", Yue said earnestly before she ran off.

Watching from the top of random building, sitting on the ledge of the rooftop balcony, watching the scene unfold was Lin, throwing the piece of ambiguously shaped carving up and down. "Ah, destiny… mysterious, ever-changing, shaped by the decisions we make. Makes us want to empty a magazine of crystal bullets on its face sometimes. I still think Yue's right; this is a bear."

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Wednesday, Day 10, Month 7, morning)_

Lin walked down the stairs with the Princess by his side, both were enjoying a seaweed roll. Yue was not in the habit of eating while walking but she found doing unusual things like this from time to time refreshing. She needed that more than ever.

"So, on top of my life come crashing down", she started, tugging onto Lin's arm. "You're leaving."

"Oh, come on, now. I've got everything I came here for and I have to take care of something back home", Lin smiled kindly. "I stay for five days. Eight years ago, I stayed for four. That's an improvement. Who knows, in my next visit eight years from now—"

"Noooo…" Yue drawled.

"In the near future? Next year's Festival? No? Your birthday this winter?"

"Better."

"I may get to stay for six days", Lin grinned. "Come on, let's go."

They parted as Katara rushed past them as she hurried her way to the waterbending training ground. "Sorry!" she shouted, not slowing down. "Hey, see you again, Lin! Have a nice flight! Sorry I won't be seeing off, I'm late for my waterbending training!"

"Ah, to be young again", Lin waved back at the flighty waterbender.

"You're eighteen", Yue said as they resumed their walk to the airfield. "Not eighty."

"By the way, did Pakku say '_sixty_ years ago'?" Lin turned to Yue with distaste in his face. "Dang, he's _old_."

They reached the airfield, to the waiting black Fire Nation spaceship; Yue walked Lin all the way to the staircases. "So", Lin turned to her. "What're you going to do from here?"

"I don't know", Yue said ruefully. "I really wish you could stay."

"Not for my wisdom…?

"No."

"Quick answer. Hurtful, but…" Lin cupped his hands on the Princess' face and kissed her on the forehead and the part between her brows. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"You, too", Yue cupped her hands on the boy's face and kissed him gently on both cheeks.

Lin smiled as he caught one of Yue's hands. "Listen, I stand by what I've said: whatever happens, whatever your choice is, I'm on your side", he put the carving of the fish Sokka had thrown away in her hand. "Always."

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Thursday, Day 11, Month 7, early morning)_

"_What do you mean you don't believe me?"_ the miniature holographic Lin lounging on his couch said_. "I'm really in the Fire Nation. You don't believe me? Here, look: pineapple…"_ he lifted up the fruit out of nowhere and showed it to Yue. _"…rose apple, snake fruit, guava, mangosteen… regular mango… these kinds of stuff only grow in Fire Nation."_

Yue seemed amused. "But, it took you one day to get here from the Southern Water Tribe. How can you get back to Fire Nation in half a day?"

Lin sighed. _"Oh, Yue… you need to brush up on your astronavigation. And besides, there's a time difference, remember? It's barely midnight here; today here is still yesterday there."_

"It's dawn here", Yue yawned a bit. "By the way… it's on."

"_The Auroral Moon—"_

"Summer."

"—that_, Festival? They're going to air that"_, Lin picked up a remote from his coffee table and pressed some button, pointing the device on something Yue could not see. _"I've booked the program for tomorrow. Is it crowded there?"_

"Yeah, the guests arrived after you were gone. I don't understand why they had to arrive one day before the event", Yue mused aloud.

"_Well, they're important political figures; people are out to kill them",_ Lin slouched back, lifting his feet up the table; the corner of Yue's mouth tingled. Only Lin had the gall to act so boorish in her presence. _"I got it right, didn't I? Auroral Moon?"_

"Yeah, I was just teasing you."

"_By the way, how're you holding up?"_

Yue could feel mirth leaving her face. "I don't know. I… I haven't talked to my dad about this. He must be busy with the Festival."

"_So, you're going to just drop the bomb at the Festival?"_ Lin asked seriously. "_That'd be quite something."_

"I know", Yue sighed. "My dad said he's going to announce my engagement at the Festival. I need to beat him to it."

Lin only stared at the Princess' hologram for a while. _"I really don't know what to say… Urgh, I feel so hopeless."_

"You can't shoulder everything", Yue smiled kindly. "And besides, you helped a lot."

"_I could have been there",_ Lin said quietly. _"I should've been there."_

"You never actually told me why you have to go home so soon", Yue said suddenly, hoping to divert the topic.

"_Well",_ Lin picked up his other cellphone and checked it. _"I'm meeting someone."_

"Business?"

"_No, social. Courtesy, actually",_ Lin explained. _"There's this guy I know; Zhang Wu. I've known him since I was a kid. When I joined the Army, he was the first to congratulate me; well, he actually expressed his condolences but in a funny way. And when I decided to resign, he was the only person who supported my decision. I consider him a mentor and he texted me a couple of weeks ago, inviting me for tea. We're going to meet in the morning."_

"Oh, that's nice", Yue commented.

"_Yeah",_ Lin said, not knowing what else to say.

"You should sleep. You look tired", Yue said.

"_My head hurts",_ Lin slumped. _"But, I still have all these paperwork to do"_, he lifted a bunch of documents from his table. _"I hate my life."_

"Get a servant or something."

"_Yue, 'servant' is politically incorrect. The term is 'assistant'."_

"Oh, don't give me that! You guys have servants there!"

Lin laughed. _"Yeah…"_ he yawned. _"I'm going to bed now. Yue?"_

"Hmm?"

"_Good luck, okay",_ Lin smiled before he reached to his phone and turned it off.

Yue watched as the miniature Lin blinked out of existence on the surface of her cellphone. Feeling a lot lighter, she picked the phone off the grassy patch and looked up to the muddy blue sky above. She cast a long look at the pond before her, closing her opaque blue eyes, praying to Tui and La for courage of her heart and understanding from her people. She opened her eyes with conviction, and left the Spirit Oasis to get ready for the day.

Gripping the carving of a 'fish' to her chest, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

"Alright", Hakoda, in their cottage with Bato and Hama sitting by his sides, addressed his children who were sitting cross-legged in front of him. "Tomorrow is the day of the Festival; tonight is the Ball. There will be many guests from the other three Nations. I trust the two of you know what you should be doing."

"Yes, sir", Katara and Sokka replied.

Katara recited her part. "I will be with you when you and Chief Arnook meet on the podium, opening the ceremony tomorrow", for it is the female's place in an occasion such as this; by the father's side.

Sokka came next. "I will be with Bato, leading the Wolf Warrior", for it is the male's place in an occasion such as this; serving the Tribe.

"Good", Hakoda nodded approvingly. He smiled warmly, feeling a surge of pride surging in his chest.

His children had grown up.

"It will be fine, Dad", Katara said reassuringly.

Hakoda smiled brightly at her; so much of Kya's warmth and caring in her. "I know it will."

* * *

Arnook was not blind. His daughter had been distant as of late, exactly after her engagement had been set. Yue had not protested the arrangement; it was for the sake of the Tribe and Arnook knew few had the dedication the girl possessed to their Tribe.

But, still, Arnook was not blind. He could see that his daughter was starting to crack under the pressure. The Southern Prince being here was the catalyst and, truth to be told, Arnook was not sure if it was a bad thing.

Arnook was not blind.

He could already see trouble brewing in the future as he, upon entering the armory, saw the Southern Prince and his future son-in-law wrestling on the floor like little girls.

* * *

Imagine the slimiest, ugliest, most disgusting eel-frog stuffed alive in your mouth. The horrid, the disgust. Multiply that by ten and then add ten more. That was how Sokka was feeling inside his gut. There was a chunk of ice that had not melted yet since the second he learnt about Yue's engagement and now the bile was converging at the base of his throat and the almost unbearable disgust had settled in when he was introduced to the jerk responsible for him and Yue never ever going to be.

He had come to the armory to borrow their grindstone; his axe and his father's machete had needed sharpening. Chief Arnook was in there along with his Moon Warriors who were tending to their own armament. Before the Chief went out, he had pulled aside a man about Sokka's age and instructed him to assist Sokka and make sure his need was catered for. Before the Chief left, he had reminded the boy to do his job well and that he expected nothing less than courteous conduct from his future son-in-law.

To make matter worse, the jerk, Hahn, was at Sokka's side, sharpening his own axe.

Sokka immediately decided that he disliked this Hahn character. _I mean, look at him_, Sokka reason in his mind. _The effing bastard looks haughty, and what's up with that hair? He looks like a girl!_

And he loved the sound of his voice; he had not stopped talking.

About girls.

"Let me tell you, Sokka", Hahn said with an unhealthy dose of smug. "I've courted a lot of girls, but Yue is the finest and she comes with the most perks."

Sokka's whipped his annoyed face to him. "Perks?!" _the hell?!_ "What does _that_ mean?" Sokka demanded.

Hahn certainly did not notice the many ways he was being killed by Sokka in the latter's mind. He really should; after all, they were inside the armory where many spears, swords, cudgels, and rifles were lying around and let's not forget that Sokka was in the middle of sharpening a very wicked looking axe. Sokka's axe was given to him upon him joining the Wolf Warrior and the blade was still virgin. The warrior in Sokka was a bit excited at the prospect of breaking his axe in by spilling some bastard's blood.

"I mean, Yue's nice and everything", Hahn replied offhandedly. "But the points I'll gain with the Chief aren't bad either."

Sokka gritted his teeth angrily as he forced himself to focus on his… oh, so shiny and sharp an axe, beckoning and hungered for Hahn's blood. "Princess Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed weasel like you!" he snapped.

"Whoa, hang on. What do _you_ care?" Hahn retorted defensively; Sokka denied him the courtesy of eye contact. "You're just a simple rube from the Southern Tribe. What would you know of the political complexities of our life?" smirking, he added. "No offense."

Funny why people say that. Hey, you look fat in those jeans, no offense. Excuse me, sir, your wolf-tail is ridiculously askew, no offense. Seriously, why do people say that? Futility, I say. It is the verbal equivalence of sticking a knife to somebody's gut and say 'oops, sorry, it's an accident, I didn't mean it'.

Something snapped in Sokka's mind. He was a clever guy and a mostly self-taught mechanist who had built a quirky but functional car out of a junk speeder-car and combined a broken toaster and a busted-up doorbell into an alarm clock. And yet, when he tackled Hahn to the ground, his brilliant mind had forgotten that he had a perfectly good and freshly sharpened axe that he could totally use on the jerkface, or better yet, on the jerk's face.

On top of Hahn, he cursed. "You're just a jerk without a soul! No offense!"

Rolling on the floor, pulling each other's hair, which is, let's face it, _girly_, they did not notice the arrival of Chief Arnook. Only when the man exclaimed. "That's enough!" and pulled both boys to their feet, did Sokka and Hahn noticed him.

"Sokka, go to my office, now!"

"But—"

"Now!" the Chief left no room for debate.

Fuming, Sokka grabbed his weapons and stormed out. He did not get to go to Arnook's office. He reached the hallway and emotions got the best of him. When Arnook found the Southern Prince, the boy was hacking the wall with his axe, screaming some angry gibberish. Arnook cleared his throat and Sokka instantly froze. As he realized who was interrupting the destruction of public property he was committing, Sokka quickly stood straight, hiding his axe behind his back. A chunk of ice from the wall falling down with a tiny thud made the situation even more awkward.

"It's… already broken when I found it?" Sokka tried his luck.

"Sokka", Arnook ignored that. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing", Sokka looked away.

Arnook was not blind.

"Sokka", oh, dear Moon and Ocean, Arnook wished he was not making a mistake. "I called out here for a selfish reason", he began his explanation. "With so many foreigners coming to our Tribe to attend this Festival, I feel worried. My Warriors need to be on their posts; therefore, until you have to join your father, I want you to guard my daughter, Yue."

Sokka flinched a little. "Oh…" he looked away, trying to act cool. "Yeah, sure. That… shouldn't be too hard."

As Arnook dismissed him, he watched the boy's departure, hoping that he was making the right decision.

Because Arnook was not blind though sometimes he wished that he was.

* * *

"Dad", Katara called from the other side of the cottage where she was currently combing her hair, checking her cellphone. "Sokka said he's gonna be a bit late. He'll be here about one hour before we start."

Hakoda and Bato simply froze.

"Really? Sokka?" Bato asked.

"My son? Sokka?" Hakoda frowned.

"Sokka…?"

"My eldest? The fruit of my loin?"

"Yes, Sokka! The plan guy! Just get over it, will ya!" Katara snapped.

"_Sokka_…?"

"My son is going to be late?"

Katara sighed and muttered something under her breath. Although, the fact that her brother is with Yue right now, it carved a tiny smile on her face.

* * *

"So they don't have palaces in the Southern Tribe?" asked Yue as she walked down the bridge, _the_ bridge, with Sokka trying to impress her by walking on the narrow railing.

"Are you kidding? I grew up in a block of ice", Sokka sat down on the ledge. "It's not exactly a cultural hub. Well, not since before the War is over."

Yue laughed a free, unburdened laughter as she reached to the boy's shoulder. As soon as Sokka smiled at her, she let go, looking rather upset with herself. Yue did not know what came over her. "Sokka, this is wrong", she said.

"What's wrong?" Sokka said with goofy grin of his. "We're taking a walk."

Katara did say that he was thick. "I'm engaged", Yue said exasperatedly. "I'm engaged. It just feels…"

Sokka's grin melted. Slowly.

Painfully.

Then, he brightened up as an idea hit him. "I know what you need", he said. "You need to meet my friend Carrie."

Yue was stunned. "C-carrie?" _that's a girl's name, right?_

Though, ten minutes later.

"Oh, Carrie", a wave of relief that was washed away by one of incredulity. "Oh, no…"

"Oh, yeah!" Sokka pulled her into the… erhm, car. Seated neatly at the front, Sokka offered a short introduction. "This is Carrie; you know, because she… _carries_ me places! Huh? Huh?"

When Yue giggled, Sokka could have sworn he saw a glimpse of the Great Ocean of Aurora (Water Tribe version of Heaven; an endless mass of sea made of pure iridescent auroral light and limitless supply of fish). _Finally_! After being alive for nearly sixteen years, he found someone who appreciated his jokes.

"Okay, so… put on your seat buckle", Sokka instructed. "I sort of put her up together myself", flex a bit muscle, nothing can go wrong. "I replace the repulsorlift with some old tank engine and giant armored car tires. Haven't gotten around to fix the interior yet, but maybe one day. Okay, so now, are you comfy?"

Yue simply smiled back.

"Okay", Sokka turned his gaze forward, fingers itching on the ignition. "Hang… on…"

Yue never screamed that loud before in her life; Carrie jumping across a hill to the snowfield below offered her thrill like none she had ever experienced before.

Carrie did not disappoint Sokka. The car sailed smoothly, albeit a bit less smoothly, but the tires worked quite fine on snow. As they climbed the tall cliff of Sanna Plain, to the highest point directly behind the Blue Palace, they stopped.

The view of the Northern Water Tribe was magnificent.

"Oh, my goodness", Yue exhaled, blushing with excitement her knees went out a bit as she exited the car. She joined Sokka sitting on the hood. "Wow, I can't believe you do this every day."

"Yeah, well…" Sokka tried and failed to play it humble. "We have roads, flat roads", he made a gesture like he was smoothing something. "You know, back in the… Southern…um, Tribe."

Yeah, _smooth_! He cursed himself mentally, stretching awkwardly to hide his discomfort.

Yue smiled a bit. "Is it as cold there in the Southern Water Tribe?" she scooted closer.

Sokka saw the Water Tribe Heaven again. "Not when you're with someone", he said, feeling every bit of the Princess brushing on his left despite the thick clothes they were wearing.

"It's beautiful up here", Yue commented again though her eyes were all at Sokka's.

"Yeah…" Sokka agreed. It was beautiful…

She was beautiful…

Especially at such close range. And closer…

Closer…

Oh, _please_ closer…

The sun cast a glint on the piece of jewelry of the Princess' neck, despite her thick furry collar. Sokka widened his eyes at the realization and broke away; Yue was equally awkward. "Woo, yeah…" he tried and failed to act cool. "Ah, good times, good times! Southern Water Tribe, I mean… driving Carrie… um, around."

Yue had seemingly shrunken as she looked away. Sokka simply looked more and more awkward.

But, the Moon and Ocean provide; for they too are star-crossed lovers. "Hey, look."

Sokka pointed at a group of three black starships coming from the horizon. Big bulgy design of tough looking metal, with red hot jet and, unlike the two on the right and left, the middle one was wingless. All three ships had ridges at the head, fanning out like dragon fins.

"Fire Nation", Yue said. "They're from the Deep Forest Industry. Lin sponsored their transport."

"What's the deal that guy, anyway?" Sokka suddenly turned to Yue. "I mean, my dad knows him, treats him as equal. And you know him. I mean you—", _kissed him…_

Sokka was proud of himself for holding this in. It made him feel small and petty. Yue's giggling sent him deep into crimson state.

"You know", she started, picking one of her twin braids draping down on her front. "Growing up with hair like this, it hasn't been easy."

Sokka blinked at her. He was curious but he did not have the courage to ask. He felt a bit anticipative at the story he might hear next.

"Anyway, Lin helped me", Yue said, knowing full well Sokka wanted to know the story behind her hair but decided not to give it. Not if he did not ask. "He dragged me to the city to confront my bullies. And just like that, I started making friend. Lin, well, he's my first friend. We kept in touch after he left. Even during the War."

"He was a really a soldier?" Sokka frowned deeply.

"Yeah, he joined the Army when he was eleven", Yue shrugged, smiling at the look of shock in Sokka's face.

"Oh…"Sokka muttered. "When I was eleven… my mom died."

So far was the gap between the two of them. _If only I was as strong_, Sokka thought.

Yue placed a warm gloved hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry", she said sympathetically.

"Thanks", Sokka managed a weak smile. They looked up to the sky, watching more and more starships arrive.

The day went quickly for them.

Sokka had never hated the sight of sunset this much before.

He was walking down the corridor of the Palace with his Princess. For all he knew, this would be last moment he had with Yue. Starting after the Ball, Princesses, meaning Katara and Yue, according to the tradition, must spend the whole day indoors. Sokka would be busy with Bato tending to the security details of his father. And who knows if they would get a chance like this after the Festival.

"So", Sokka said as they arrived at Yue's door. "This is it."

"Yeah", Yue said timidly.

"Um… I'll see you tonight, okay", Sokka said and reluctantly turned around. Yue grabbed him quickly and turned him to her. The moment their lips met was short; Sokka was hoping for more, to be honest. But, he was still grinning ear to ear as he walked out of the Palace ten minutes later, basking in the twilight sun.

Suddenly, the sunset was so beautiful to him.

* * *

Sokka's mood went all icy again as he watched the white-haired wonder dancing in the hall with a jerk. _The_ jerk.

Hakoda and Bato were on the dance floor; Bato was dancing away with some Earth Kingdom female while Hakoda, while he garnered quite a lot of attention, was considered a bit unreachable with him being a Tribal Chief and all, practically a co-host. Hakoda, though, seemed quite content with the animated conversation he was having with a middle-aged man who was clearly a Fire Nation; a muscular bushy-mustached gray-haired one-eyed man.

Katara was kind of hoping her father would stay with them at the table. The fact that Sokka was merely playing with his baked blubber was more than unsettling. Her, being a caring person and a little sister, picked up a deep-fried tentacle and poked her brother on the cheek with it.

"Hey, Sokka?" Katara asked, poking still. "You okay there? You're not eating."

"I'm fine", Sokka growled, slapping the tentacle away. He stole glances at the dance floor, at the twirling flash _–oh, damnation!-_ of white… so pure a _–Sokka gritted his teeth, itching to reach for his gun that was not there-_ color, like the fresh layer of snow _–he's holding her wrong!-._ Like a fairy from the stories _–that's it!-_, graceful as she was pure.

"Dance with me!"

Katara nearly choked on her seaweed bun. "I'm sorry, _what_?!" she yelped a little as Sokka pulled her up by the wrist and dragged her to the dance floor.

As they joined in the group waltz, Katara was simply too dazed at what the *beep* had gotten into that idiot brother of his. Admittedly, Katara had _never_ had a crush on anyone before so she was happily ignorant of her brother's plight.

"Hey! I'm your sister!" Katara snapped, dragging Sokka's hand up a bit on her waist.

"Sorry", Sokka said, not at all paying attention. He was too busy being distracted by Yue and Hahn at the other side of the room, especially since Yue had noticed him too. Oh, she was begging with her eyes, Sokka knew.

She was not, but Sokka was… well, love can make people go crazy. Think crazy things, believe in crazy things.

And do crazy things.

Sokka was basically inviting international conflict, twirling his way, practically dragging Katara along, to the other side of the grand hall, stepping on so many foreign and important toes along the way. Katara was hissing '_sorry'_ and '_excuse me'_ along their rampage. Until the nasty glare form an Earth Kingdom lady got to her, Katara decided to put her foot down, literally, on Sokka's.

"Follow my lead", she growled heatedly under her breath. Together, they did make quite a good dancing team. At least good enough to sail smoothly to Hahn-Yue's side, dancing along well enough despite the glaring Sokka and Hahn were throwing each other.

Then, the time came to change partner.

Yue broke away from Hahn with a rather insensitive enthusiasm; Sokka pretty much shoved Katara away with no grace whatsoever. Hahn ended up with an old and obese wife of an Earth Kingdom politician while Bato commented at Katara dancing along with him. "This is awkward", he said; Katara laughed weakly and nervously.

Before anything could happen, Sokka and Yue twirled their way to the center, away from Hahn while Katara, winking conspiratorially, led Bato to block Hahn and his partner who, for the love of crap, looked smitten by him. Smiling to themselves, Sokka and Yue snickered at Hahn.

Trouble for another day, Yue decided.

And so they danced. For about fifteen seconds before the music stopped.

"Um…" Sokka started, not moving an inch. "You're a… good dancer."

_Seriously_, he berated himself mentally. _Of all the things you could say…_

"Thanks…" Yue said, not moving away and inch. "You, too."

"Excuse me", Hahn interrupted the two, literally dragging Yue away by the arm. He lifted up his glass that he somehow had in his hand and roared to the room. "Good people of the Four Nations!" they stopped and turned to the boy. "A toast", Hahn offered. "To our host, Chief Arnook", he smirked as he added. "And to my fiancée, Princess Yue!"

The hall joined in the toast; Hahn was positively grinning at Sokka as he drained his cup without taking his sly eyes off of the Southern Prince. Snickering mockingly, he dragged the Princess away.

Sokka knew her eyes were begging.

* * *

"_He did _what_?"_ Lin asked crossly.

"He told everyone about it", Yue sobbed into her pillow. She turned to the miniature hologram of her Fire Nation friend on the nightstand. "My father was supposed to be the one who announced that at the Festival! I— I was thinking maybe I can try talking to my dad before that, or rejecting the engagement before the announcement. He ruined everything!"

"_Now, now, Yue",_ Lin tried as Yue sobbed harder into her pillow. _"Look, the might be a silver lining to all of this. Hahn sort of superseded your father, right? Maybe your dad will take offense to this. Hey, he might even call it off!"_

"No, he won't" Yue sat up and wiped her tear-stricken face. "Hahn's father is a high-ranking member of the council. If my dad just calls the engagement off, there will be conflict."

"_Still, it won't hurt",_ Lin stood by his argument. _"Talk to your dad about it. Hey, if you can convince him and he calls it off, Hahn will lose face. You'll win on two fronts."_

"I don't know", Yue hiccupped. "I-I don't know anymore."

"_Yue…"_ Lin sighed. _"Yue, come on. Yue, look at me."_

Yue stopped evading and turned to the hologram. "You're tiny", she said, the corner of her mouth tingled at her own joke. "What're you wearing? Are you wearing a robe?"

"_Yeah",_ Lin drawled. _"What of it?"_

"Isn't it summer there as well? Aren't you hot?" Yue picked the phone up and placed it on the bed.

"_Are you trying to change the subject? Focus"_, Lin snapped a bit. _"And yes, it's hot. That aside"_, he mellowed. _"Talk to your dad"_, he said firmly. _"Tell him that I do not appreciate Hahn doing what he did. Make something up, something convincing. And if that fails, tell him that I threaten to pull out all my resources from the Northern Water Tribe. That should convince him."_

"I'm not threatening my dad", Yue decided flatly.

"_You sure? I mean, this is your future we're talking about",_ Lin said. _"Maybe just an itty-bitty—"_

"No."

"_Just a teeny weeny—"_

"No."

"_Just a tiny bit—"_

"Read my lips; _no_."

"_I can't. I'm outdoor. The sunlight is…"_

"I'm not threatening my dad!" Yue whined. "Stop suggesting it!"

"_Oh, you are such an angel"_, Lin sighed, knowing he was defeated. _"Hey, Yue?"_

"Yeah?" Yue grumbled.

"_Before I left, I have given some very specific instruction to my flight staff at the Industry there",_ Lin said. "_There's a starship waiting to take you away from the Northern Water Tribe to Fire Nation. Just in case."_

Yue did not know what to make of this.

"_Yeah, yeah, I know",_ Lin said, taking off his hood. _"A bit too much but… hey, it can't hurt to be prepared, right?"_

Yue chuckled finally, feeling warm all of the sudden.

"Thanks, Lin."

"_Anytime",_ Lin smiled_. "Now, if you'll excuse me",_ he put on his hood. _"A suspicious looking van had just arrived. I think that's my tea; he changed the time and venue to this coffee shop around here at the last minute."_

"A suspicious looking van?" Yue asked interestedly.

"_It's the traffic thing here in Fire Nation. Civilians don't really use the road",_ Lin muttered, paying attention to something Yue did not know_. "I'll explain it to you next time."_

"Yeah, can't wait", Yue sniffed. "Hey, Lin."

"_Yes?"_ Lin turned to her.

"Thanks."

* * *

_(Northern Water Tribe, Friday, Day 12, Month 7, evening)_

Yue supposed there were many worse ways to go.

Everything had been going well; she had put on a brave face as she confronted her father in the morning, finally letting her voice be heard. She even had had delivered Lin's threat despite what she had said. She was panicking, you see.

It had been really going well. Apparently, Lin's prediction came true. Announcing the engagement to the Four Nations was Chief Arnook's privilege and Hahn violated that. The Chief took offense of it and had decided to call the engagement off during the Festival in front of everyone. That would show Hahn, Arnook had said. And that would prevent Hahn's father from blaming it on anyone but the boy.

Yue had been elated, everything had gone really well. She had wanted to call Lin but realized that it should be night in Fire Nation and he did not want to disturb him. She was bursting, aching to tell Sokka but, no… she wanted to surprise him. And Sokka should know first, Yue decided.

Everything had been going well.

The two Water Tribes Royal Families had met on the stage; Arnook and Yue, and Hakoda and Katara, guarded by the Wolf Warriors led by Sokka.

It had been going well, truly.

Until something hit her; the pain was unbearable.

She fell to the ground, looking up to the aurora; oh, so beautiful it was. She heard her name, her father was screaming her name. It echoed like sound travelling the Sanna Plain. And then, Sokka appeared; oh, so beautiful he was.

Yue supposed there were many other worse ways to go.

Sokka was pressing her chest where she had been shot; Yue was smiling, just smiling at the one she had come to love. She knew it was love; she just knew it. It was short but it was real. It was not like what she had with Lin; oh, no, _no_. Whenever her friends hinted something romantic going on between her and Lin, Yue would laugh so hard she got stitches on her side. And it was not like with Hahn; oh, spirits, no. To Yue, Hahn was as significant as a pile of snow to the Sanna Plain; even more so after he stabbed her in the back at the Ball.

Sokka was different, Yue told herself. He was real.

He was here, screaming her name though his voice came out muffled to Yue. He was here, looking down on her with tears running down his suddenly pale face. He was so beautiful; the iridescent soft light of the aurora above him was beautiful, too.

Yue supposed there were many other worse ways to go.

She cried now for she had to go.

She did not want to but she had to.

But, at least, Yue thought, she was not wearing the betrothal necklace Hahn had given her; it had felt like a collar, like a leash, the moment she had put it on and tonight it was about freedom. Her freedom.

She was wearing the bone carving of a… 'fish' tied with a cord. It was bloody, she knew, stained with her blood; she could feel it pressing her chest below Sokka's hands. Oh, she hoped Sokka would take it back after she was gone. She wanted him to have something to remember her by.

Yue opened her mouth, trying to speak. The pain and the tightness in her chest was too much; the tears falling down her face, glazing over her skin felt so real all of a sudden.

"Yue! Yue, don't speak, okay!" Sokka said frantically; a drop of his own tears fell down on Yue. It felt real to her too… warm, like the essence of him, like his heart. "J-just hang on, okay. H-hang on… _Somebody help us_!" he screamed to the dumbfounded panicked crowd, too busy trying to save their own arse.

"S-sokka…" Yue managed. "I-it's okay…"

"No, don't say that!" Sokka sobbed.

Oh, Yue wanted nothing more but to tell him… so much she should tell him: the calling off of the engagement, the carving she kept, the love she held. So much… so much…

But, Yue supposed there were many other worse ways to go.

At least, she was here in the arms of her beloved. How many could go the way she did?

"Sokka…" _this is it_, Yue knew. A sudden surge of strength, one that was gentle and embracing… like the lingering heat of hot bathwater down her back during the cold Water Tribe winter.

_Felt… truly felt… _

"Goodbye, Sokka…" this is it. "I will always be with you…"

…_and transient…_

It was a promise.

Yue did not want to go but she supposed there were many other worse ways to go.

She thought Death, as far as hers go, was not so bad.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Friday, Day 12, Month 7, Late Morning)_

Lin had dropped his glass when the shot was fired. The lemonade stained his carpet and the glass was lying around neglected. He himself was on the other side of the room, screaming to his phone.

"I don't care!" he cried. "I don't care about the barricade! Just get me on our next flight there! Smuggle me in our cargo ship if you must, Biao! Just get me— oh, Agni…" he finally broke down, slumping against the wall and went down like the drop of bitter tear on his cheek. "Just… get me there…"

* * *

Of the many ways one could go, Yue did not mind this in the slightest.

She just hoped she did not really have to go…


	4. Chapter 4 - Pilgrimage

**Chapter 4 – Pilgrimage**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fingers I'm using.

* * *

_(Southern Air Temple, Wednesday, Day 26, Month 6)_

The young Air Acolyte leaped down the tall rock wall. He landed gracefully on the grassy field below, swarmed by a horde of flying lemurs instantly. Laughing from the licking and one lemur cub that entered his shirt, he rolled on the ground to his back and looked to the sky, holding a specific long-eared white-furred creature up.

"Momo, I think it's finally time I'm allowed to take the final test", he sat up and set Momo the lemur on his lap; the other lemurs scattered back to the grove although some other hung behind and sat on the ground near them, watching the young boy with interest.

Momo looked up to the boy's face and said nothing.

Sparkle in his stormy gray eyes as he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm going to be an airbending master!" he threw his arms up. "Wouldn't that be great?! I'll be an Air Monk and I will finally be allowed to travel."

Aang plopped back down; Momo sat on his chest. "Imagine it, Momo", Aang gazed at the blue sky above. "We will be travelling across the space, visiting the other Air Temple Planets, even the other Nations. Wouldn't that be great?"

The boy let out a sigh, grinning wide. "We will finally able to see the galaxy."

Momo simply purred. His large ears perked up and he sniffed the air.

"What's up, buddy?" Aang asked, propping on his elbows. "Hey, wait!" he exclaimed as Momo leaped away and raced towards the lowland.

Aang raced after the lemur and ran past through villages and farmlands, greeting people here and there. Air Nomads are a monastic order. Their lives are centered on the temples and the seasonal pilgrimage they conducted to each and every one of them. However, not everyone is cut up to live monastic lives. For those who wished to live regular lives, they are provided huts and farm in the lowlands below the temple. Their children are still required to be raised in the temples though. Air Nomads are blessed by the spirits; their people are all benders. Such gift, if left untrained, can be destructive.

Aang ran past a vast wheat field, waving and grinning at a group of men bald like him but only three were wearing Air Monk tattoo, all were wearing similar outfit of yellow and orange. He turned left at the crossroad ahead, leading to the upper hill of the smaller mountain; the right path led to the simple Air Nomad airfield, which is basically a vast open field with a landing strip and nothing else.

Aang climbed and hopped through the rocky terrain the only way an airbender could and found Momo perching on the ground munching on bugs. Naturally, Aang pounced at the lemur like a hunting predator. The boy and his lemur wrestled a little, good-naturedly, laughing on the ground that sat on top of a clear grassy slope.

"Oh, hey, Momo, look!" Aang managed through his stretched cheeks that Momo was pulling. The boy pointed at the slope going down about a couple hundred feet down. A bender of the other three Elements would say '_danger'_; an energetic twelve-year-old happy-go-lucky bender of Air Element like Aang would call it '_fun'_.

And that, he did.

Whooping loudly, the young airbender rode his signature air scooter; a condensed ball of air that one bent below one's foot. A rather peculiar airbending technique that requires courage and balance. And a certain measure of the lack of survival instinct.

Aang invented it himself.

Momo, perching on Aang's shoulder chirped loudly, mostly out of fear as his nails dug deep into Aang's shoulder garment and his garb underneath. Aang though paid little heed to this, not when adrenaline surged through his system as he let topographical angle and gravity, aided a little by his bending, take him down through the slope at breakneck speed. He could feel the flesh of his face being pulled back- or, is it pushed back- by the speed he was going.

A tiny voice in his head did tell him that he should be careful. But, the voice was tiny. Numerous other large loud voices drowned it by saying that _'it's fun', 'no one's supposed to be here', 'it's a lot fun', 'even Momo's enjoying it', _and_ 'it's really really fun'_.

Such is the nature of an Air Nomad: natural-born daredevils.

It is their Element; the Element of Air, of Freedom.

Airbenders are infamous for their reckless nature. It is the influence of their Element, one that enables them to literally _fly_ in the sky. The idea of flight has fascinated human of all Elements since the very beginning and airbenders have that skill. It makes them feel like they can do anything.

Anthropologists believe that this is the reason why Air Nomad culture is monastic. Spiritualism curbs down their flighty and grandiose nature, and helps them develop a calmer sense and mind. Since the beginning of the invention of interstellar travel, the Air Nomads perform a spiritual pilgrimage to the other temples. Air Nomad planets grow certain herbs and fruits that the other planets do not; plants like pearl lotus, yellow jasmine, gold peony, ginger arrowroot, mountain sage, yellow pepper, mustard, and, most importantly, varieties of fresh fruit. Air Nomads rely on this as they have no concept or semblance of a workable system of currency when dealing with the other Nations.

Air Nomads live as naturally as possible; which means they have no airships. They have little use of technology although they did not begrudge themselves the practicality of electricity, gas, modern communication, and internet. Especially so since the era of space travel, the Air Nomads have made great use of the modern communication technology. Incoming foreign trader ships will contact them, requesting permission to land which is rarely turned down, and once they are in, they would usually be asked, rather politely, if I may add, to take some of the ordained monks to the other Air Temples should the ship pass them in their route. The Air Monks pay for the service with their hospitality or their goods; Air Nomad fruit pies are to die for.

In recent years, after the war, many private parties had begun establishing trade with the Air Nomads. The Air Temple planets are rich agriculturally and, while the Air Nomads do not accept money as a practical principle (since they don't use them), those foreign parties often exchange transport services with the goods the Nomads provided.

Air Nomads traditional goods, especially in the culinary department, like their pies, varieties of herbs and spices, and surprisingly their famous spider-worm silk are very popular with the people of the other three Nations and could be sold for an exorbitant prices in the other Nations. Interstellar travel is not cheap.

Sometimes though, rich people of the other three Nations like to provide transports for the Air Nomads as a form of philanthropy. Apparently, nothing gets you in the good graces of the spirits better than providing Air Monks with spaceship tickets.

In accordance to their precepts, Air Nomads do not have their own ships; they lived in humility and frugality. They do have at least one ship in each of their planets. The Air Nomads have four representatives in the Four Nations Interplanetary Council, each from an Air Temple. These selected people are, according to the international protocol, provided with a contingent of Four Nations Honor Guards, armed to the teeth with modern guns, rifles, and armors, and a luxurious cruiser ship with two warships as escorts.

Normally, they also received salary, not including expenditures and other monetary privileges, but the representatives of the Air Nomads had refused such financial support since the very beginning. This particular detail had made the Air Nomads an invaluable asset to the Council and many in the Council wary of them. Monetary comfort is one of the ways the Council keeps leverage on its fellow members.

Post-war hate and international relationship were lucrative temptation for corruption and other sorts of underhanded deals, mostly between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom delegations, targeting each other. Air Nomads and their infallible morale provide a figure of guardian for justice and propriety, something that the Water Tribe people and their mentality somewhat lacked. Air Nomads believed in peace and neutrality; Water Tribe believed in taking care of their own first and staying away from the conflict of others. Differing ideologies but same effects most of the time.

Anyway, back to Aang. The Fire Nation man, or at least Aang thought he was a Fire Nation, judging from the red garb he was wearing, noticed him too late; so did Aang him. The man yelped and Aang screamed as the all-binding Law of Physics did its always marvelous job and the physics of pain that follows a collision enveloped the males of two Nations all over as they crashed to the dirt ground, groaning and on top of each other.

"Ow…" Aang got up, rubbing his head; Momo was flying in small circle over them. The Lemur ejected from his perching spot before the crash. "Sorry. Are you okay, sir?" Aang stood up easily and offered a hand to the Fire Nation man; medium height and well-muscled, brown hair tied in a tight top-knot, and his face was hard and chiseled, rough with thin stubbly beard. He looked stern and hard, obviously a warrior from his facial texture and hardened muscles.

His grin, however, was almost uncharacteristically jovial. The man laughed boisterously as he took the offer and heaved himself up. Aang, being a good-natured kid, did not even notice how plump the man actually was in the waist despite his multi-layered Fire Nation garb.

"That was quite a crash", the man commented, dusting his garb and, as Aang made no move, the boy's chest garb. "You ought to be more careful, boy."

Aang's reply was a sheepish laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

The next thing he knew, he was walking back to the Air Temple with the man who introduced himself as Zhang Wu, a friend of Head Monk Pasang. The man was sporting a thick cotton cloak of dark red color, stained now with brown dirt.

Normally, one would be suspicious of any Fire Nation man travelling outside their planet and colonies but Aang somehow felt no such thing to him. Granted, Aang, like many children on the Air Nomads knew little of the War and their precepts taught of love and the natural kindness of people. Besides, Momo seemed to like him. The lemur was happily perching on the man's shoulder and we all know how animals are a good judge of character; Zhang Wu feeding nuts to the lemur might have something to do with it though.

The arrived at the steps that led to the temple finally; Aang was impatient but was polite enough not to use his bending to hasten his pace. Zhang Wu was an excellent company though, seemingly interested of the many flora and fauna they came across and asked questions about them, sometimes even stopping to examine them closer.

Waiting at the base of the steps was two males; an elderly monk with a thick arcing moustache and a Fire Nation youth of late adolescence. They were engaging in a rather animated conversation before they noticed Aang and Zhang Wu approaching.

Aang noticed the bright amber color of the young man standing beside Gyatso and his long ponytailed hair. Being raised in a monastic order, Aang had never seen a man having so much hair before. They stopped by the two and Zhang Wu, steeping forth, bowed to the Senior Air Monk.

"Master Zhang Wu", Gyatso bowed back with a hand gesture of two knuckles pressing against each other on his solar plexus, further accentuated by his arrow tattoos on the back of his hands; a very formal form of Air Nomad bow. "I trust you had a pleasant flight."

"I did, Master Gyatso", the Fire Nation man of middle age smiled warmly. He turned to the youth smirking beside Gyatso and gave him a scrutinizing look from the bottom of his pointy Fire Nation boots to the top of his ponytailed head. "You look good. Wealth is treating you well."

"I managed", the young man shrugged. He then smirked and the two Fire Nations pulled each other into a warm embrace.

Zhang Wu broke off and held the young man at arm's length by the shoulders. It would seem like he was about to say something but he simply smiled and nodded approvingly. Letting the young man go, he stepped closer to Gyatso and together, the two adults led the four of them ascending the steps. Aang found himself walking behind Zhang Wu and the Senior Monk with the Fire Nation teenager.

Ever the friendly soul, Aang extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Aang."

The Fire Nation youth returned the gesture and smile. "I'm Lin."

"Oh", Aang gave the boy another scan. "You're from Fire Nation?"

Lin laughed. "The color gives it away, huh?" he said, tugging the hem of his robe. Like Zhang Wu, Lin was wearing clothing of simple enough cotton material. However, unlike Zhang Wu's rough appearance, Lin had the unmistakable air of affluence about him. The boy was lean and well-built, and when Aang shook his hand, he felt callouses. A sign of a warrior. If Lin was of any other Nations, Aang would have suspected him to be anyone than a nobleman. Kuzon, Aang's Fire Nation friend, however, had once told Aang that Fire Nation was a race of warrior; their nobilities are the best of firebenders, fighters, swordsmen, spearmen, gunmen, and warriors the Nation had to offer.

"Aang…" Lin frowned a little. "Aang… Aang… as in the youngest acolyte who will be taking the Oath in a few weeks?"

"Yeah…" Aang replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Momo chose that moment to jump off Aang's shoulder and flew to the lemurs garden.

"Oh, nice", Lin grinned. "Master Gyatso spoke highly of you. The youngest airbending master in history."

Which sent Aang deeper into sheepishness. "I'm not a master yet", the monk argued humbly.

"Not officially", Lin shrugged lightly. "But, you have the skills whether or not you have your arrows."

Aang felt his brows rising; he had not expected something so profound from someone so young. From a Fire Nation no less. Kuzon had always been rather grounded, doubting himself constantly because he was not a nobility. From Kuzon, Aang had this idea of Fire Nation people as stratified, uptight and strict about the social standing and the limitations it compels.

They arrived at the Main Hall, welcomed by two elderly Air Monks. One was short and hunched, old and wrinkled, with a dry looking goatee that stuck out of his chin; Monk Tashi was every bit stuck-up and humorless as his appearance suggested. The other was one of the eldest but looked not a day older since his fifty, with his thick brows joining together; Head Monk Pasang, the oldest and one of the most accomplished airbenders in the galaxy.

"Young Master Lin", the Head Monk bowed deeply to Lin first, then to the other Fire Nation. "Master Zhang Wu. It is a pleasure to see you both again."

"The pleasure's all ours, Monk Pasang", Zhang Wu was the one who replied and led the bow.

The Monks led the guests to the Main Hall where the guests were invited to lunch; Zhang Wu happily accepted while Lin excused himself on account of his exhaustion from the long flight from the Fire Nation, but the insistence of Gyatso and Zhang Wu won him over.

Aang joined in with them, sitting at the same long table as them at Lin's suggestion, and he finally feel intrigue setting in. Zhang Wu was obviously older and Lin looked young but the way the Elders treated him suggested him to be of the higher standing than Zhang Wu. Lin did have the looks of a nobility but he was too young to be anything more than Zhang Wu.

Like many Air Nomads, young and old, Aang lived a sheltered life, cut off from the world. The Air Nomads have no TV or radio, at least not as personal belongings. They have an old beat-up TV in the temple they used to watch international festivals, or the news of the war during the Conflict. Air Nomads live a frugal life. It is not like they abhor material possession; it is just that they do not value them the way people of the other three Nations do. There is a running joke among the Earth Kingdom freighter pilots, the most common foreigner group to visit the Nomads: an airbender will give you his car if you ask nicely.

Lin still did not understand that because he had learnt about the foreign culture of other Nations extensively as part of his education and he knew that Air Nomads do not use cars. They have sky bison and, while they allow foreign company to mine in their land, they have a strict policy to ensure no oil mining due to its destructive nature and their planets, unlike the other three Nations, do not have energy crystal veins; hence, they had no way to produce their own fuel. They have generators but they run on water turbine and the delegate's airships received fuel supplies from the Council.

Lin was also aware of the Air Nomads precepts and how they abhor violence of any kind. Their bending, no matter what style, focus on avoidance and evasive maneuvers, and the only weapons they use are their gliders; a blunt weapon that doubles as a means of escape. Air Nomads are forbidden to spill blood, which means no bladed weaponries, and they never agreed with guns.

Lin and Zhang Wu were aware of this and had made quite a polite subtle show when an acolyte approached them for their robes; they had made sure they took their robe off one after another and as inconspicuously slowly as possible. They each even did a spin, Aang had noticed, as a way to show the Elders that they carried no weapons with them.

Air Nomads abhorred weapons, yes, but their core precept is of freedom; they would never force their philosophy on others. It did make accepting foreigners in their temples a rather touchy occurrence sometimes. People of the other Nations can be ignorant of this pacifistic logic and feel justify to carry some form of weaponries in the persons when they are visiting an Air Temple. Fire Nation is a race of warriors, and warriors and weapons are like pea and nut; they exist in one continuum. Water Tribe warriors never left home without at least a knife in their persons. Earth Kingdom people, strangely enough, polar opposites and all, are usually the most accepting of this concept, simply because they are, you know, tough and visiting an unknown territory without any weapons to defend oneself is apparently quite a show machismo.

"I shall have it arranged, Monk Tashi", Lin inclined his head politely at the grumpy-looking hunched monk, even setting down his bowl and chopsticks before doing so. "You have my word that I will see to this immediately and personally."

The elderly monk was about to say something without softening the sour of his face but Gyatso beat him to it. "And we thank you for your dedication, Young master", Gyatso reciprocated Lin's gesture and ignored Tashi's scowl. "But, now please, let's not talk business", the monk looked at Aang, who was seated at Lin's side, meaningfully; the acolyte understood and picked a piece of tofu from the dish for the guest. "You must be tired from your flight. The arrangement can wait."

Lin nodded and smiled at Gyatso; Aang noticed relief dancing on his pale face. Tashi scowled deeper into his rice bowl while casting a nasty sharp glare at Gyatso, who was seated at his side, every now and then. Zhang Wu and Head Monk Pasang were discussing something about the Northern Air Temple that, from the sound of it, had been visited by the former a couple of weeks earlier.

"So, Aang", Lin called, snapping Aang of his contemplation. "Do you think you're ready for your final test?"

"Yeah!" Aang chirped up, somewhat grateful for the distraction. "I can't wait! Finally, I'm getting my arrows. And I get to travel to the other Air Temples. Maybe I can pass by Fire Nation on the way, huh?"

"You should look me up when you do", Lin laughed sincerely.

"Yeah, I definitely will. And my friend Kuzon, too", Aang said enthusiastically. "He's a Fire Nation, you know. His dad is in export-import business so he gets to come here sometimes. Maybe you know him."

Lin simply laughed at the naiveté, reflecting on his former but not dissimilar view of the world and foreigners when he was a kid. "Believe it or not, Aang, Fire Nation is a pretty big planet. I don't know everyone there", the Fire Nation youth scooped some more rice into his mouth and chewed slowly as he frowned and pondered. "But, the name does sound familiar… he doesn't happen to be some sort of a cultural activist, does he? There's _a_ Kuzon who, along with several other activists, tied himself naked to this ancient Sun Warrior pillar in the middle of a forest that the government wanted to take down and relocate to a museum."

"Um, no…" Aang frowned. "Wait, _naked_?"

"They… drew some tribal pattern all over themselves", Lin shrugged, recalling the newspaper article he had read. "It's supposed to be expressive and artistic", at Aang's blank face, Lin added. "I still don't get it myself."

The lunch went on quite amiably until Momo barged in and Monk Tashi screamed at Aang for his negligence of keeping animals out of the dining area, prompting the acolyte to jump from his seat and give chase after the lemur. Tashi was quite unpopular as he was, being a stickler for tradition to the extreme, and arrogant and proud to the highest form. But, Aang decided to give him the benefit of the doubt this time; Momo did make off with his apple pie, after all.

Aang found himself leaping and dashing through the woods after his lemur. He was grinning from ear to ear, exhilarated by… well, everything. Making new friends, receiving his arrows soon, Tashi's priceless expression when Gyatso sort of told him off earlier. Aang jumped across the narrow creek with more vigor than usual.

* * *

_(Southern Air Temple, Thursday, Day 27, Month 6)_

Aang woke up in the morning earlier than usual. Yawning wide, he squirmed wide and free, inadvertently knocking Momo, sleeping by his pillow, down to the floor. The lemur fell with a soft thud but kept on sleeping, dreaming of a moon peach he was stalking from the foliage.

Aang rubbed his sleepy eyes, casting a glance, envious glance, at the lemur lying on its back on the floor, scratching his belly, snoring with its mouth hanging wide open and his long tongue wagging out. Shoulders heavy and down, our young acolyte made his way to the communal bathhouse on the floor with a clay cup and a toothbrush.

Aang had his breakfast ten minutes later in the dining hall with a group of equally tired acolytes; Air Nomads were not really known to be morning people. They prefer evenings and sunsets, the representation of autumn, the Season of Air. Aang nearly fell asleep into his bowl of soup when Lin sat down with his tray, wiping beads of sweat with a towel draping on his neck. Aang was tired not but so much that he missed Lin scrutinizing his face before greeting. "Morning, Aang."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before; us Air Nomads look the same to everybody else", Aang sighed, taking a slow bite off his bread while Lin snickered.

"It's the bald head", Lin reached out and rubbed the younger boy's bald head. Aang slapped the hand away and looked up, realizing how Lin clashed with the surrounding with the dark and red of his sleeveless training garb and towel.

"Speaking of which", Lin dipped his bread in his soup. "When you get your tattoo, will they use needles to… you know", Lin made a vague stabby gesture above his head with his finger. Before he could enrich his knowledge on the Air Nomad culture though, Monk Tashi appeared behind Aang and cleared his throat audibly.

"Pupil Aang", the old man rasped. "Aren't you supposed to be in the morning training session? You have to train harder if you are to pass your initiation."

Aang's face fell; with one last look at his half eaten breakfast, he stood up, bowed to the Senior Monk and made his way to the training courtyard up on the hill. Pavement courtyard on the top of a lone hill behind the temple; Aang thought it would be empty and he was wrong. That early in the morning, most monks would still be sleeping, dreaming of clouds and sky.

The courtyard was empty safe from one firebender. Zhang Wu's wide and robust frame moved uncannily fast as he delivered high kicks and spin-kicks, trailing flame in the air as he did so. Zhang Wu noticed Aang's presence and brought his stance to a closing. He turned to the monk with a huge grin on his face and greeted the boy cheerfully.

"Young Master Lin is having breakfast", Aang informed the man, bowing politely.

Zhang Wu laughed. "Don't let him catch you calling him that", he said. "That boy spent too much time in uniform. He can no longer appreciate the finer point of social stratification."

Aang's supposedly lonesome airbending form drill developed into a commentary to appease Zhang Wu's curiosity and then into a spar with the old man. It was a new and interesting experience to the young acolyte. Fire and Air are very similar; both are intangible. Aang sent a blast of air current that blew away the firebender's shield of flame and staggered the large man a step or two back. Zhang Wu simply pivoted on one leg and spun, kicking an arc of flame towards the boy.

Aang spun and an air current sent him floating up in the air weightlessly like a piece of paper; he landed on a familiar one-foot stance on a ball of air. Aang rode his air scooter and closed in on his sparring opponent but an accurate fire blast from Zhang Wu's finger jab hit the scooter and scattered the ball of air, sending the boy crashing down face first to the pavement. Groaning, Aang tried to pick himself up but a shadow fell upon him. He cranked his neck to look up and saw Zhang Wu's massive fist close to his face. The man laughed and the fist unfurled into a helping hand.

"Hey, you're not bad, kid", Zhang Wu commended. "Give it a year or two, and you can be one of the best out there."

As they sat on a bench for a well-deserved break, Aang asked the question that had been nagging him since yesterday.

"Yeah, he's a firebender", Zhang Wu grinned at Aang's curiosity. "One of the best in his generation. You remind me of him a lot, you know; Lin's a prodigy too."

"My friend Kuzon said Fire Nation nobles are all warriors", Aang shrugged, chugging a generous amount of water from his bamboo bottle. "Kuzon's Fire Nation."

Zhang Wu let out his signature hearty laugh. "That's a stereotype. But, y-yeah… it's mostly true", the older man scratched his chin as he pondered. "Firebending often runs in noble lines. They developed the art further and formed their own unique styles. The Lin Family is particularly well-known for this and Lin is the heir to his family. He's good at firebending because he has to be."

"Price of power", Aang muttered solemnly.

"One that any proud Fire Nation would willingly pay", Zhang Wu smiled. "For all our advancement, Fire Nation people can be quite old-fashioned. Like it or not, non-benders are often considered a second-rate breed."

"Non… benders…?" Aang frowned as if Zhang Wu had been speaking in a foreign language.

"Of course", the firebender chuckled. "Air Nomads are all benders, right? Well, you see, Aang, sometimes in the other Nations, people are born without any bending ability. They are often ostracized in a more traditionalist community. Fire Nation is still okay", Zhang Wu added quickly and sternly. "I heard that in some regions of Earth Kingdom, these people are chased out of the villages or even imprisoned and spayed. It's foolishness, really."

The Fire Nation man's gaze to the horizon was distant as he drank from his bottle.

"Just like many things in this world", he concluded. Turning to the young monk who looked solemn, the man laughed and switched back to his usual self. "Come now!" he slapped the boy's back hard, nearly sending the monk to ground. "You need a lot of practice if you are to pass your test. This time, I won't hold back!"

"You were holding back?!" Aang threw his arms up, dragging himself reluctantly after the man into the courtyard.

* * *

_(Southern Air Temple, Saturday, Day 29, Month 6)_

"I know, I know", Lin sounded patient and gleeful as he talked into his phone. "Just tell—"

Even Aang could hear the murmur of the person on the other end of the line. He or she sounded unhappy.

"Just—"

Aang turned to the Fire Nation noble and saw a mirthful smile on his face. Apparently, not all Fire Nation are hotheaded like Kuzon, he thought. Lin scratched his head, still with the gleeful smirk on his face; he turned to Aang and covered the mouthpiece of the cellphone, mouthing _'a moment'_.

"Uh-huh", Aang heard Lin mutter while he distracted himself with a strange looking clear crystal ball on the desk among many folders and important looking paper. The moment Aang touched it, the ball buzzed and floated up, emanating bright chalky-white light. The young monk yelped and, looking around guiltily at the owner of such contraption, he caught the ball quickly and frantically looked for an off button.

"It's a light ball", Lin came to Aang's recue, flipping his phone closed. "Tap it."

Aang obeyed and drummed his finger once on the surface of the ball. The ball buzzed lowly and went back to being a clear crystal ball and plopped down softly on the boy's palm. "Sorry", the monk laughed nervously, handing the ball back.

"Keep it", Lin offered, smiling as he tidy up his desk. "From what I've heard of your initiation test, you're going to need it to study at night. It's solar powered."

"Um… thanks", Aang smiled back, looking down at the gift. "Are you really leaving?"

"Something's came up", Lin said, shoving the stack of paper and folders neatly into a briefcase.

"But, you've only stayed for a couple of days", Aang said.

"True", Lin replied. "But, I've concluded all I came here to do", he locked his briefcase with an audible click. At Aang's persisting crestfallen face, the older boy snickered. "Cheer up, will ya? In a week or two, you'll be able to perform pilgrimage. You can look me up in Fire Nation", he expertly produced a stiff business card from his garb and handed it to the young monk.

Aang held the card towards the light from the window. The glossy dark red surface reflected the sunlight, dark-golden letters of _'Lin, the twenty sixth'_ and _'Deep Forest Industry'_ almost glowed under the company's insignia of the same dark-golden color. Below the names, there were contact details and addresses.

"My company provides accommodation for Air Nomads", Lin's voice snapped Aang out of his thought. "Gyatso will tell you this. You just have to show up at any branch office and request aid. We will provide food and shelter for you and your bison."

The rest of that day went by uneventfully. Lin departed after lunch once he handed several documents to be signed and Head Monk Pasang presented him a lacquered box; Lin had looked very satisfied once the box came into his possession and it roused Aang's curiosity.

Zhang Wu stayed behind though. He sparred with Aang every morning and evening, when airbending is at its weakest and strongest respectively. It was four days after Lin's departure and Aang was standing now in the line of acolytes, ten including him and ten was also the age gap between them. Aang would be the youngest ordained Air Monk if he passed this test.

In the courtyard on the highest hill, they stood before the three Senior Monks. Gyatso and Tashi looked as calm as they ever be, emanating confidence in their pupils' skills. Head Monk Pasang sat on the sole bench, supervising the whole thing after a short speech.

Overhead, ten bison were floating like giant clouds. Upon instruction, the ten acolytes took specific positions on the vast courtyard, emulating the reigning Southern Arrow constellation that ruled the month. Aang immersed himself in the meditation, finding the state of mind where self and nothingness meet. It is where one true self exist, where connection to the Universe exist.

Air Nomads are often considered an oddity. In the age of technology and space travels, they are a race of spirituality. Their dedication to the spiritual aspect of life is both ridiculed and revered by the other Nations. Earth Kingdom and their realist and capitalist ways is the most at odds with them; so much so that Air Nomads often joked that they were grateful of the fact that the Air Nomad planets sort of circled the Earth Kingdom and they did not have to go through the Big Green.

The true self… the Freedom of Mind. The state airbender meditation focuses upon; unlike Fire Nation inner fire meditation or Earth Kingdom surrounding awareness meditation. Aang needed not open his eyes to know that Appa, his bison, had landed soundlessly and weightlessly on the space in front of him. The creature's breath and low grunt hit him fully. Aang opened his gray eyes and was greeted by a giant lick by the bison, making him giggle.

Flight test was ridiculously easy and they all aced it.

Next was the onslaught of both practical and written tests with only fifteen minutes break during lunchtime. It was late in the evening, a beautiful one at that with tangerine sky on the cloudless horizon, that the acolytes found themselves in the outskirts of the woods surrounding a mountain, awaiting the instruction for the last test.

They were to face the Essence Test. It is different each time. This time, Aang and his fellow acolytes were asked to reach the top of the mountain and light a burning incense on the shrine up there before sundown. Head Monk Pasang's instruction went through like breeze to them. The acolytes were exhausted and beat-up from their earlier tasks; one of them involved herding buffalo-rams for the Industry-owned farm. Deep Forest Industry ran an organic farm in the Southern Air Temple planet.

One of the buffalo-rams head-butted Maku in the gut and about five of them ganged up on Jaju; before that they were ploughing the field in the outskirt, where Tamu pulled a muscle, and before that they were helping out with the harvest of ocean kelp on the beachside where they were attacked by a giant eel-shark that almost ate Aang alive had Pasang and Zhang Wu, who was invited to watch along, not intervened.

And that did not include the many written tests and intense meditation that taxed their mental constitution. And numerous airbending skills, application and combat. Now, in the outskirt of the woods, were ten acolytes tasked to cross the forest and climbed up the steep mountain to the top, watched by the whole Air Council, Zhang Wu and many civilians. The ten acolytes were beat-up, exhausted, and some were even wounded. And yet all of them forced their bending as they sped, flew, hopped, or glided through the foliage, all wanting to be the first to complete the test.

All but one.

Aang, despite his conviction, was hurting; the giant eel-shark had him inside its mouth and nearly swallowed him whole had Pasang not stabbed the creature on the back with his glider, sending it diving away right after it spat Aang out.

Aang could not move a muscle. He tried but after his first step, his knees buckled down and he fell down.

"_To pass your last test",_ Pasang had said. _"You have to reach the Shrine of Varuna on the top of that mountain", _the monk pointed at the hill, at the dark silhouette of a small pagoda at the tip of the tall mountain. _"Light an incense stick and come back down."_

And that was it; the other acolytes had raced up as Pasang stepped aside to give way. Aang mentally scoffed as he sat down to catch his breath. _Not like it's a race_, he pondered gleefully.

And it clicked. Not like he had to do it on his own, either.

Aang looked around; Pasang and Gyatso looked back while the other monks and audience seemed to be more interested in the small orange-yellow specks of acolytes racing up the side of the mountain with their bending.

Gyatso smiled encouragingly and Aang took it as a confirmation. The young acolyte sat down and started to meditate like he had done for his first test. It took awhile to be able to finally ignore his aching body and reached a state where he was one with his Element, with the Universe.

Appa groaned overhead and landed by his side a minute later. Grinning, Aang bent a wave of air that lifted him up to the bison's head. "Ready, buddy?" he asked the rhetorical question; the bison groaned. "Yip yip!" the acolyte snapped the rein.

The beast soared weightlessly, accompanied by the murmur of the crowd. Appa brought Aang up to the mountain in the matter of seconds and they arrived at the shrine just as Taru and Mata climbed up and wrestled each other, both wanting to be the first to complete the test; both acolytes were at each other's throat, literally, on the ground and froze at the sight of the bison landing.

Aang lit a stick of incense on the candle and planted it on the jar of ash on the gray marble shrine, shaped like a miniature Air Temple but hollow in the inside, sheltering a circular symbol of the Air Nomad carved on a piece of yellow stone the size of a plate.

The two wrestling Air Nomads blushed in embarrassment of their action as Aang waved cheerfully at them. They picked themselves up and offered their respect to the shrine after Aang. The latter, being a kind soul he was, waited for everyone to arrive and complete their task and he flew them all down the mountain on Appa.

They were greeted like champions.

In the following feast, Aang was obviously the star of the show. The Element of Air embodies freedom; freedom from the world's constructs, from the conventional untruth. It encourages people to see the big picture, to think outside the box; or not, because it is about _freedom_, freedom from itself if need be. It encourages people to see the truth.

Pasang had never mentioned anything about the final task to be a race, or prohibited the use of bison. Such simple thing Aang did, but it is usually in the simple things that one measures one's wisdom. Head Monk Pasang had commended Aang's wisdom and wit, and honored him to be the first to receive his tattoo and named an Air Monk.

In a fresh and ceremonial robe, sporting his still itchy blue arrows, Aang reached out for a glass of fruit juice on the refreshment table but a hand clad in a wide red sleeve beat him to it. Zhang Wu picked up the glass and offered it to the young monk; he then picked another one for himself and they bowed at each other before clinking their glass.

* * *

_(Tuesday, Day 9, Month 7)_

"Yeah, it's really nice here", said Aang happily from inside the cargo bay of the spaceship. "They even give Appa a stable", as if on cue, the giant bison groaned from inside the makeshift stable; boxes and crates lined up to make a large rectangle but it had a pile of fresh hay in the corner.

"_Are you sure you and the others are comfortable there?"_ Lin asked urgently from the phone over the static. _"I have specifically—"_

"It's fine, Lin", Aang reassured him again. "I'm the only one traveling in this ship; all the other monks went with the earlier flight. I had a cold", as he said it, Aang felt the lingering phlegm in his throat. "Anyway, they gave me a room and the food is great. I really don't see why people complain about airplane food so much. Momo likes it, too. Right, Momo?"

Aang held out his cellphone to the lemur that chirped happily into the mouthpiece before diving back into the large bag of cheese flavored potato chips. The monk laughed at his lemur's antic and went back to the phone. "Don't worry, everything's fine; the room, the food, the people, they're all fine."

"_Are you sure?"_ Lin asked again firmly, firmer. _"Because, I'm totally committed to this. If there is _any_ sign of sloppiness, I'm not afraid to fire some—"_

"No, it's really fine", Aang restated calmly; Kuzon would often get all worked up over little things too. Maybe it's a Fire Nation thing, he thought to himself. "Anyway, where are you? I heard something over the static that doesn't sound like static."

"_Oh? Eh, just some hail shower",_ Lin said lightly. _"I'm in the Northern Water Tribe for some official business stuff. I'm flying back tomorrow."_

"Is it nice there?" Aang perked up; he had heard a lot about the ice buildings of the Water Tribe and had listed either Water Tribe as a detour destination quite highly. Number three, after Fire Nation and Kuzon's place, and Earth Kingdom's Garden of Taku where they breed a rare species of moon peach that tastes so sweet you can never eat regular moon peaches ever again.

"_Well, if you consider snow, subzero cold temperature, and suspiciously made food that are consisted of flour that isn't exactly flour nice, then yeah",_ Lin sounded a little impatient and it seemed like he knew it. _"Did I sound cranky? I think I sounded cranky. Sorry",_ he sighed. _"Time difference. It's midnight here. The moon is exceptionally beautiful tonight; with the backdrop of the ice-covered Sanna Plain and the aurora… *sigh* heavenly is the word. I'd trade it all away for a good night sleep."_

Aang laughed at the joke.

"_I envy you nature lovers",_ Lin sighed deeper. _"Anyway, you still have my card, right? Just show it to any of the Industry's branch office. I've said that, haven't I? Felt like I've said that… meh, anyway, now I've said it. Whenever you need food, clothes, money, medicine. Anything you need. Not too much, though. Apparently, there's a guideline for this; that's one of the things I discussed with the Temple on my visit."_

"Yeah, I got it", Aang replied. "Thanks."

"_No problem",_ Lin audibly yawned. _"Ah, yes, the warm goat-otter milk kicked in. I can't believe warm milk actually works. Gotta go, Aang. Inspection tomorrow. See you back in Fire Nation, okay?"_

"Yeah. See ya", Aang said, turning off his phone.

It was a little past dinnertime, at least according to the giant digital clock hanging above the exit door. Aang made a couple of calls, one to Gyatso and one to this lady from the Industry who was supposed to pick him up. Then, he simply climbed up with Momo on Appa's wide fluffy tail and slept there, not even bothering to go back to his comfortable cabin.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Wednesday, Day 10, Month 7)_

Aang led Appa down the rampart, stopping for a second to let out a soft but no less admiring, "Wooow…" at the Fire Nation below the hilltop airfield. He stepped down almost reverently, the first step he took on a foreign soil; it felt less special than he thought it would be.

A single pale-skinned lady was waiting for them. She wore a fancy robe that reminded Aang of Lin's; multi-layered and wide-sleeved, with the color theme of formal-looking dark-red with black hem, unlike Zhang Wu's cheerfully bright red and yellow outline. The buckler on her sash bore the symbol of the Industry but, unlike the more familiar yellow circle with orange outline,it was a red circle with black outline, and with the stylized writing of '_深林工業__' (Deep Forest Industry)_ in black.

The lady was young, early twenty Aang guessed. She was beautiful; her cheekbones high and sharp, her jaws defined, her eyes amber and sharp, her lips full, and her hair black and tied in a simple businesslike bun. She smiled and even so she looked different from the women of the Air Nomads. Aang had never seen any Air Nomad girls without the soft, gentle, motherly air that define their beauty. This Fire Nation lady, however, Aang had a hard time imagining her as a mother.

One thing for sure, Aang concluded as he arrived in front of the woman and bowed, this lady was a warrior. She stood with the gait and posture that radiated such presence.

"You must be Aang", the woman began, smiling brightly. "I'm Biao, from the Deep Forest Industry. Welcome to Fire Nation."

"Hi", Aang shook her hand. "This is Appa", he gestured to the bison, and to the lemur that jumped down from Appa's head onto the woman's shoulder. "And this is Momo", he chuckled as Momo began sniffing Biao's cheek and licked her face. "He likes you."

"Oh, hello, Momo", Biao cooed, scratching the lemur below the chin and sending one of Aang's brows involuntarily up; such perkiness was unexpected from someone of her appearance. "Winged lemur, huh? This is my first time seeing one", she commented, patting the lemur of the head. "We do apologize for not anticipating the size of the pilgrims from the Southern Air Temple. I hope the delay of your trip has not been awfully inconvenient."

"That's okay", Aang dismissed it kindly. "I've told Lin about it. I'm grateful I had a lift at all."

"Again, we are sorry", Biao bowed formally, prompting Momo to leap across to Aang's head. "What about the other monks? I thought there would be two others with you."

"Oh, Matu and Kata sort of cancelled", Aang explained, following Biao's gesture at the path ahead of them and they started their march back down the hill through the coiling circular escalator. "Matu sprained his ankle in a midnight airbending training and Kata had a food poisoning."

At Biao's offer of the lavish looking black limousine, Aang counteroffered with what he promised to be a better idea. Biao soon found herself holding on for dear life on Appa's saddle.

"Spirits", Biao sighed, tentatively taking a peek over the saddle to the ground below as they soared even higher. "I've flown before on various vehicles but _this_", she said, patting Appa's furry back. "This is so different. I can almost…" she closed her eyes and breathed in, smiling faintly. "…_feel_ him. Does it make sense…?"

"Of course, it does", Aang laughed good-naturedly from Appa's head. "Air Nomads believe in the connection that all living creatures share with the Universe and each other. It takes a certain kind of spiritual strength to be aware of the connection. You'd make a great Air Nomad, Biao."

"Well, my grandmother was some sort of a seer", Biao shrugged. "Maybe it's hereditary."

Aang could not hear the last part well due to the air flipping in his ears but Biao was positively smirking. So, like many civilized conversationalist out there, he simply smiled back.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Thursday, Day 11, Month 7)_

Aang walked down the street of the Capitol, yawning under the golden sun of early morning. The asphalt and pavement felt strange under the sole of his foot. He was more used to the Southern Air Temple's natural ground, flattened dirt paths, and weathered stone pavement.

After a rather pleasant breakfast with Biao, who was strangely refreshed despite having almost thrown up after Appa did a rather spectacular roll in the sky -the bison was extremely happy to be flying again and had not enjoyed his time being cooped up in a spaceship for days-, Aang had to politely refuse the woman's kind offer to escort him around the city. It was part of his pilgrimage to visit the representative temples on the other Nations he visited during his trip on foot.

He did, however, let the woman lemur-sit Momo. It seemed like Biao had taken a shine on Momo and Aang made a mental note to check with home if there was any lemur cub up for adoption.

Aang looked around the street he was passing; at his right, there was a stone staircase leading up to an uphill courtyard it seemed. There was a tall red gate, a mon, Aang knew it was called. Two thick beams with horizontal beams curved to mimic the shape of Fire Nation distinctive pagoda roof. Several citizens, mostly women with shopping bags and men carrying crates or barrels climbed up or down. Aang guessed rather correctly that there was a market on top of the stairs.

He climbed up and saw the most peculiar thing he had ever seen. The activity was mundane and normal enough, even for an Air Nomad whose culture relies on bartering system. People shopping for groceries, chatting with acquaintances, shoppers haggling prices and sellers flirting with shoppers to seal a deal; what struck Aang as odd was the color.

Red, yellow, green, blue…

Aang had never seen Kuzon wearing any color that was not some shade of red. Zhang Wu was the same and Lin's attire, and Biao's, now that Aang thought about it, had been predominantly black but still with deep dark red somewhere.

The people Aang was currently mingling into, the shoppers, sellers, workers, they wore the varieties of colors and styles that Aang knew were not traditional to the Fire Nation. Some of the blue-clad women wore hair loopies and a lot of the green-clad men were bare-footed. When a fish seller made a graceful hand movement and froze several pieces of fresh fish cutlets, Aang's suspicion came true.

Groceries, mostly, Aang thought as he looked around the stands. He was instantly grateful for Biao's offer to take care of Momo; Aang could not trust the lemur's self-control as he noticed a pile of succulent moon peaches. His stomach growled at the sight of a cookies and pastries stand right beside it. As Aang approached, however, he heard the sound of roaring fire metal clanking. To his right, he saw an outdoor grill and a large muscular man working on it, looking rather ridiculous in his pink apron, grilling something that smelt really _really_ good and shook Aang's resolve regarding his vegetarianism.

He went to the diner anyway, as his growling stomach dictated, and sat down in one of the outdoor tables. A waitress came to his table and greeted cheerfully, busy putting down a menu folder and a glass of water. "Welcome to Shinrin Diner, may I take— oh…" she gaped a little as she looked up and got a good look at her patron, and then she smiled. "You're an Air Nomad. Ah, don't worry about the vegetarian thing or the money. Our Diner has a policy to provide free meal for any visiting Air Monks", she informed politely, pulling out a different set of menu folder from her apron, one that respectfully bore the color of Air Nomad yellow and orange. "Take your time", she bowed formally and moved away to give the patron some room.

Aang ordered a simple breakfast set and felt at home almost instantly. The food on the starship was vegetarian but it was too bland for his taste. The light breakfast he had with Biao was Fire Nation vegetarian, rich with spice and aroma and was too overwhelming for his palate. Air Nomad's version was more on the sweet side.

Aang had just picked up his spoon, ready to enjoy his radish soup when a murmur of everyone around him roused his curiosity. He followed the direction of the pointing fingers and faces and saw on a TV set hanging in the corner of the ceiling something wonderful. There, he saw an angel dancing with a boy in armor…

Her blue eyes were the most striking, the color of the ocean. Her skin reminded Aang of caramel, sweet just like her entire face, the way her eyes, nose, and lips complemented each other, matching each other perfectly like pieces of puzzle. Her hair was tied in the traditional Water Tribe loopies, brown like threads made of chocolate.

His cellphone buzzed; Aang barely registered the word '_Princess'_ from the TV reporter announcing the name when he had to turn away and answered the call. It was the Air Nomad representative checking up on him. He checked the time on the clock hanging on the wall inside the diner and suddenly realized that he was indeed late.

Jumping out, he grabbed an apple from his tray and ran out, yelling his '_thank you'_ at the waiter who smiled brightly at his hasty departure. He just missed the uniform gasp and the ensuing silence that accompanied the news of the Northern Water Tribe Princess' betrothal.

* * *

"It's really no trouble at all, ma'am", Aang said brightly, balancing his glider on his shoulder, with numerous groceries bags hanging on both ends. A small elderly woman with a cane was walking by his side, smiling approvingly at the altruism the Air Nomad was showing.

"Oh, my!" the old lady gasped at the scream of the woman, the pregnant woman, ahead of them. The woman suddenly doubled over and fell down slowly, gripping the nearest lamppost as she slid down. With some uncanny agility, the old lady raced to the pregnant woman's side, along with another random teenage girl, and, in panic, Aang abandoned his load and looked around for help.

"Come here, boy!" the old lady snapped, kneeling beside the pregnant woman with the pale-faced teenager. "Help us carry her up to the bench there!"

"Okay!" Aang squeaked and bent an air cocoon around the pregnant lady, shocking the other two females, and raised the pregnant woman up several inches in the air.

"Gently!" the old woman snapped again, trembling as she walked slowly along the levitating woman.

Carefully, Aang set the pregnant woman on the bench. They raced other side and the brown-haired teenaged girl gave Aang a weird look before focusing on the pregnant woman. "Somebody, call an ambulance!" the old woman ordered; Aang, being a first-timer in such delicate situation, simple screamed out loud. "SOMEBODY, CALL AN AMBULANCE!" but none of the deserted street straggling cats and dogs and the many speeder-cars and –bikes flying above their heads heard him. Maybe they did but what do cats and dogs care about a pregnant woman, anyway? And the many drivers flying up there probably simply assumed that Aang's roar was their machines acting out.

"I have a phone here", the teenager said, fishing up a cellphone from her bag. Quickly, she threw it to Aang who caught it by reflex.

"I don't know the number!'

Anyway, Aang had blocked out the next half hour. The ambulance came, he remembered, and took the pregnant woman and the old lady (and her groceries) to the hospital, leaving the two teenagers in a rather awkward silence before the girl, On Ji, commended Aang on his airbending when he carried the pregnant woman to the bench and later on when he provided comfort from the scorching sun.

"Oh, shoot", On Ji sighed, checking her wristwatch. "I'm late for school", she groaned. "Well, anyway, you were looking for the Air Nomad Temple, you say?" she asked, perking up suddenly.

"Yeah", Aang smiled back. "I think I'm late myself."

"Let me take you there", On Ji grabbed the monk's wrist and dragged him away without waiting for confirmation. "It's not far from here."

"Wait", Aang trailed behind. "What about your school?"

"Meh, it's art class today, anyway", On Ji shrugged lightly.

On Ji kept her words. They barely turned two blocks and already they were standing at the road that led to the grand steps upon which a gray stone temple stood. It was a one-tower style of the Fire Nation pagoda architecture but the color theme was granite-gray wall and sandy-yellow roof tiles.

On Ji said that she would wait at the nearby coffee shop and they parted ways.

Aang drew in a calming breath in front of the gate and touched the gate; an automated voice of _"State your business",_ scared the hell out of him.

"Oh, hi… um…" the monk rubbed his head nervously and blabbered. "I'm… Aang. I'm supposed to be here an hour ago, but then I got lost, and-and there's an old woman with heavy groceries and a pregnant woman and On Ji who's really nice—"

—CLICK—

"_Just get in…"_

"Um… okay…?" Aang gulped and walked through the opened gate. A group of laughing Air Monks raced down the steps and tackled him to the ground.

"Hey, Aang's here!" one of them exclaimed. Another one rubbed his bald head. "Glad you finally made it, kid!"

Together, they climbed the stairs and paid their respect to the Air Nomads Representative; an elderly old nun sporting a pair of thick glasses. They were asked to relocate from the various lodging they were in and spent a week of their visit living on the streets. It is to teach humility, the nun said.

"_Don't worry about it",_ Biao said, reassuring the young monk through the phone. _"I'm aware of the Air Nomad Week of Poverty. I've arranged for your stuff to be sent to the Temple; Appa and Momo will stay with us and they'll be taken care of."_

"Thanks, Biao", Aang sighed, sinking back a bit in his seat across from On Ji who was busy playing some games on her phone. "Are you alright? You sound tired."

Biao sighed deeply. _"Well, my cousin Lin is being his lazy self, sleeping at this hour. Yeah, I know he just got back from the Northern Water Tribe, but, _really_!"_

"I haven't visited him", Aang muttered, hand going to his pocket where the business card Lin gave him was. He took it out and read it for the umpteenth time. "Dragon pearl Manor."

_"He said he'd have something to do as soon as he wakes up"_, Biao informed as if knowing his intention. _"I suggest tomorrow morning. He took some paperwork home with him and, knowing him, he'd be done with them by now. Just go to any cab"_, Biao suggested._ "Ask for a place called Sundisk Garden and head for the shoreline. The valley surrounding the Manor is restricted so no cabs would take you there."_

"Okay. Don't worry, I have a map app on my phone", Aang reassured the woman and said his goodbye.

He and On Ji paid for their coffee and left the coffee shop; the latter tried to brighten the atmosphere right away since Aang suddenly look sullen due to the prospect of the hardship he was sure to experience soon. They exchanged number and On Ji left for her home right after lunch. Alone in the middle of a foreign country, Aang delved deeper into the heart of the city.

This place is full of life, he thought. Just like the Element of Fire, Aang felt a certain energy flowing from the people. It made him feel like everything is possible, including his first pilgrimage. The next step to his pilgrimage was to spend a certain amount of time among the people, living like a hobo. They were to rely on the kindness of the people, living off alms and donations, and to help the common folk the best they could.

Fire Nation has a standing domestic policy that prohibits the bending of other Elements in her soil but airbending has always been an exception. There is something about the nature of Air Element; pacifistic, safe, peaceful. Besides, the Fire Nation threw the first punch on the Decade War and antagonizing the Air Nomad and their ritualistic pilgrimage would not do well for their international standing.

Aang wandered the streets all day, meeting no one and experiencing no event of any import. Apparently, the spirits have mercy; one disaster a day is enough for Aang. It was now night and Aang was rummaging the nearby garbage bin in the public park he had decided to sleep in for something to eat. That was when he heard the sound of a woman screaming. Pulling his head out of the bin, biting a piece of stale bread in his mouth, Aang turned to the direction of the sound. Across the street, quite far away, a woman was being mugged under the streetlight by four burly men.

Spitting the bread, Aang channeled his bending and quickly closed the distance between them; the dark figure was faster though. Aang skidded to stop, carving twin lines on the grass since he had not left the grassy park yet. The dark figure was really _really_ fast. He came out of nowhere and dispatched the four muggers quickly with his bare hands.

Done with the last muggers, he turned to Aang; the weirdness of him wearing a dao sword on his back was multiplied by the fact that he was wearing a blue mask depicting some terrible fanged demon. He was wearing a simple enough tight-fitting garb with gloves; his left arm sported a bracer of metal and plates of dark-colored metals on the back of the fingers and the sets of dull claws on each fingertips.

The figure sent a simply stomp on a stirring mugger, knocking him unconscious, before nodding curtly at the fawning would-be victim and dashed into the alley.

"Hey, wait!" Aang shouted, dashing after the figure, kicking a mugger who just came to on his way. He did not know why but he wanted to know who the figure was; he felt like he had to. "Wait up!" he turned on a corner and found himself looking at a deserted street. He almost gave up when he felt shadow moving in front of him, between the blocky shadows on the alleys; the masked man was on the rooftops.

Spinning, Aang bent a small vortex of air that carried him up. He leaped onto the rooftop and found the figure perching at the corner of the apartment building they were on like a gargoyle. "Hi, there", Aang greeted cheerfully; the figure whipped his head to his direction and Aang yelped as he saw the figure's left eye shining with some red light.

Without preamble, the dark masked figure jumped down the three-storey building, gripping and sliding down a nearby lamppost with his metal bracer, sending sparks everywhere.

"Wait!" Aang ran after him. "I just wanna talk!"

The Air Monk snapped his glider open and, with the aid of his bending, flew down and tackled the masked figure from behind, resulting in the two of them crashing into a garbage bin at the side of the dark deserted suburban street.

"Oww…" Aang groaned, picking himself up to his knees; in front of him, entangling himself from a pile of kitchen waste and a broken old radio his left foot was lodged in, the dark figure quickly fixed his mask. It was dark with only one blinking old lamppost as the source of lighting but under the moonlight, Aang could have sworn he saw something dark red on the figure's face behind his lopsided mask. Before he could confirm, though, the masked man fixed his disguise and sent a series of kicks, high and low, at him.

"Hey, calm down!" Aang blocked the fast slashing saber with his glider. "I just wanna talk!"

Aang's gray eyes grew as big as saucers as the saber separated into two. The figured spun and twirled, sending slashes of deathly steel at the monk, pushing the latter back further down the street. "Stop attacking me!" Aang shouted but not louder than the honking horn on the incoming speeder-truck that washed them with the light of its front light. Aang tried to detach his glider from the locking sabers but the masked man did not seem to notice the incoming ten-tons of heavy metal contraption. Bending a burst of air under his feet, Aang sent himself forward and tackled the masked figure back to the pavement yet again, saving their lives.

This time, the masked man scored a kick of the monk's gut thought it was more of a push than an actually concussive kick.

"What's your problem?!" _he speaks_, Aang thought as the masked man stood up, sheathed his swords, and dusted his clothes. "You're an Air Monk", he said and it came out like a statement and not a question or a guess. "Shouldn't you be digging through a garbage bin somewhere?"

"I was", Aang laughed nervously. "I… well…" his smile melted. Why did he chase the man…?

Spirituality is never an easy thing to comprehend. Air Nomads are born with high spiritual affinity. There are stories after stories of Air Nomads exhibiting supernatural abilities; clairvoyance, sixths sense, telepathy, etc. That is one of the many reasons why they engaged heavily in meditation. Meditation helps them calm their mind and suppress the rampart spiritual energy that would drive lesser men to insanity.

Aang did not know why he chased the masked man which, now that he thought about it, was a dangerous thing to do. He just knew that he did and he had to.

"Uh… well, you see…" he gulped awkwardly; the skills and knowledge of an Air Monk, he had, but the wisdom, not so much. "I… uh… I thought you might need… um, help…?"

The masked figure stared –or, at least, Aang thought he stared- at the monk for about five long seconds before he eased up. "Go back to the dumpster, kid. I work alone."

The masked man turned and Aang reached out, wanting to halt him; a puff of smoke exploded and engulfed the bald kid. Coughing, Aang spun his arm overhead, summoning a gust of wind that cleared the air. In the dark outline of the suburban Fire Nation Capitol, he saw the Blue Spirit leaping across the rooftops.

* * *

The Blue Spirit perched on top of the highest point in the Industrial District, breathing in the ever-present smell of rusted metal and stale oil, crouching low as he stalked his target: Wang King Paint Factory two buildings ahead across the wide square big enough to park a spaceship. The left eye of his mask glowed a soft red light; he scanned the buildings with his night vision, red but bright, and almost as if it was a feature fixed in the left eye of his mask.

He nearly choked on his gasp when a cheerful. "Hi, there", caught him unaware from behind.

"It's you again", the Blue Spirit muttered, not even bothering to turn around. His left eye display began calculating distances between him and the five guards patrolling the premise, and the distances between one guard with the other, keen mind calculating his next move, aided by his electronic gadget.

"What're you doing?" Aang crouched down beside the figure, survival instinct toned all the way down, if he had one. "It's a factory", he followed the direction of the vigilante's sight. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna blow it up", the Blue Spirit said without hesitation.

"What?!" Aang exclaimed audibly, his voice echoed in the dead of night. The Blue Spirit quickly clasped his hand across the monk's mouth and dragged him down as a nearby guard patrolling directly below their spot aimed the flashlight attached to his rifle up the source of the noise.

"Shh!" the Blue Spirit gripped the face he caught. They waited for a few more moment before he let go.

"Why do you wanna do that?!" Aang demanded in a low hiss. "People work there! What you're going to do will only cause suffering!"

The Blue Spirit stared almost disbelievingly into the monk's face before he rolled his eyes even though he knew the monk would not see it. "Spoken like a true pacifist", he sighed, almost mockingly. He pitied the monk.

The kid gotta learn someday, he thought as they now crouched directly on top of the paint factory, looking down on the opened hatch of the metal roof.

"Maybe they're making… cold medicine?" Aang tried, weakly and unsurely. "Organic cold medicine?"

"In a paint factory?" the Blue Spirit murmured, eyes fixed on the many long tables occupied by people wearing lab coats, rubber gloves, and masks, stuffing white powder into plastic bags and measuring their weight with electronic scales. "Grow up, kid", his left eye took note of the several furnaces aligning the two sides of the factory; a schematic of the device sprung up and he studied their weaknesses. "Now, I'm going to get down and wreck some havoc. You stay out—"

"Wait", Aang grabbed the vigilante's forearm. "What about those people? You can't let them get caught in the explosion!"

The Blue Spirit snorted. "I'm no murderer, kid."

He got up and the Air Monk rose up with him. "I'll help", the latter said, full of conviction as he gripped his glider tighter.

The Blue Spirit pondered upon his situation a bit. True, once the armed guards came in, guns ablaze, he would be in some deep crap. His original plan was to take the guards one by one and _then_ entered the factory and unleashed hell; for some reason, he thought that educating the young Air Monk in the ways of the world was more important. Now, he was standing in the middle of the patrolling guards' route and he could not engage them without alerting the rest.

Having an extra pair of hands (or a meat shield) should be handy.

"Alright", they crouched back down. The Blue spirit nudged his chin at the group inside the warehouse and the interior. "You see those people? They're mostly immigrants. They have no skills or talents aside from their bendings and… well, bending of the other Elements being outlawed in this Nation—"

"Wait, really?" Aang interrupted. "B-but, I just saw some fisherman bending water to freeze fish at the market."

The Blue Spirit exhaled slowly, trying to keep his impatience in check; people's ignorance tickled his nerve. "Rose Garden Borough is a free zone", he explained begrudgingly. "The whole place is actually a militarized zone owned by a mercenary group. They have a special permit from the Fire Lord himself. Anyway, you see that exit there?" he pointed at the regular sized metal door under a red exit sign; the monk nodded. "When we get in, you hide somewhere and focus there. I'm going to scare them a bit and they're going to run out through the door. The guards will come in and your job is to get them off my back. I'm going to need some time to set the furnaces—", he pointed at the lines of furnaces on the two sides of the wall. "—to overheat. Do you get that?"

"Yeah", Aang replied, his throat felt dry. The closest he had ever got to a real fight was the spar he had with Zhang Wu, an expert firebender. "I'm ready."

The Blue Spirit fixed his stared a second or two longer on the monk's pale face. "Don't get killed", he said right before he jumped down, shot a metallic fiber cord from the device on his bracer; the cord caught a beam and the masked man swung down a la Tarzan to the ground below, kicking two workers on the back shoulder, sending them crashing to the crates nearby. The noise alerted the rest of the group and a commotion ensued. Aang took this opportunity to swoop down like a silent ghost with his glider and dived behind a pile of crate. The Blue Spirit sighed at the sight as he waved his blades around, smashing vials and bottles to scare the rest of the people away.

The Blue Spirit did not fully trust the random Air Nomad kid he found on the street to watch his back, of course. He raced to the farthest furnace from the exit and began tinkering with the control panel, hiding himself from the line of sight. _Meat shield_, he thought to himself. _Sorry, kid_.

Aang leaped up high in the air as the guards came rushing in; he spun in the air and swung his glider sideways, sending a gust of wind that, though unfocused the aim of the guards, caused no harm worse than dust in their eyes. The boy ducked quickly to avoid a wild red bolt and leaped sideways like a bull-frog to avoid several more. He rolled on the ground and summoned a dome of compressed air that did little to defend himself against plasma bolt. Quickly abandoning his defensive stance, Aang switched to offensive and blasted two of the armed guards with a blast of air each.

Grunting his battle cry, he dashed forward in a flash with the aid of his bending as the two guards slammed the wall and slid down to the ground. The boy ran zigzag, sending dust at his wake, evading bolt after bolt of red plasma. He jumped up in the air and kicked a blast that knocked another guard. He landed on his feet and dashed low, positioning himself low to avoid the kicking leg of one of the guards. He bent a vortex of air that lifted the burly man up in the air and sent him flying and crashing to the last guard.

Scanning for more enemies, the monk found none. He spun his arms in the air and dragged his foot behind, bending a sweeping massive movement in the air that swept all the fallen firearms to his feet. The guards slowly got up and, finding themselves weaponless, were instantly stunned, at loss of what to do.

The prankster in Aang exclaimed. "Boo!" sending the guards running away, screaming.

Grinning, he barely noticed the dark-clad figure running past him after the escaping bad guys. "Hey, wait!" Aang raced after them; the guards were defeated, attacking them again would be an overkill. However, as they reached the middle of the vast loading square, the factory building behind them exploded into a spectacularly bright fireball. The noise made Aang's ears ring and the force sent him to the ground.

"Whoa…" he breathed out, looking back at the flame; the scene reflected in his gray eyes.

"Good job, kid", the Blue Spirit suddenly stood by the Air Monk. As the latter stood up, the Blue Spirit jerked his head slightly to the right; from the corner of the building at the direction, a group of males with bottles, drunkards by the looks of it, appeared, murmuring to themselves as they pointed at the burning factory and the two remaining people in the vicinity. "You better run."

The puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere; Aang did not even see the masked man throwing the smoke bomb. He did see the mask gradually disappeared into the chalk-colored smoke and it sent a wave of urgency. "Wait! You haven't told me your name!" he reached out but, as the last of the mask was swallowed by the smoke, Aang grasped nothing but air.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Friday, Month 7, Day 12)_

Aang yawned and slowly sat up; a goat-retriever ran up to him and began licking his face, making him giggle. "Morning, buddy", the monk greeted the canine, scratching its yellow-furred head. The owner, a young girl of around Aang age ran up to them and took the leash, smiling and apologizing a little before walking away with the dog.

Smiling and feeling rested despite having slept on cold hard grassy ground for only a few hours, Aang got up and stretched. Fire Nation sunrise is every bit as beautiful as Kuzon had described, he cheerfully thought to himself as he looked at the distant horizon where a globe of bright gold reigned supreme.

Aang rummaged his satchel, checking his stuff. He had money he received from the Temple but he was forbidden by the rules to spend them in his ritual, unless it was a matter of life or death. He pulled out a rather edible piece of bread he got from the garbage the previous night and, on his way to gargle on a nearby drinking fountain, he checked his phone for the time and messages.

After washing his face, he sat down on a nearby bench and, breaking his bread, he opened his mouth and was about to popped a piece into his mouth when somebody pretty much jumped at him from behind, exclaiming a very friendly. "Hi, there!"

On Ji giggled and rubbed the monk's back to ease his chocking.

After much persuasion and logic bending _("This can be considered a charity, too! I'm buying a monk breakfast!"_), they left the Fernwood Park where Aang had spent the night and made their way via On Ji's speeder-moped to the coffee shop they went to the previous day.

"Don't you have school today?" Aang asked as they parked in front of the coffee shop.

On Ji shrugged lightly as she took off her helmet. "Friday's gym's day", she shivered as she fixed her uniform and bag. "Some people are not made for combat training, such as yours truly."

"Combat training?" Aang chuckled as they sat in the crowded coffee shop, earning several curious glances as Air Nomads are quite a sight in Fire Nation.

"It's compulsory", On Ji said, putting her bag on an empty chair.

They ordered drinks and muffins and spent most of the breakfast chatting about their home countries. On Ji was originally from a small town in the outer islands but was undergoing a summer program in the Capitol and had stayed long enough to highlight several places of interest; Aang was particularly interested in the Fire Spring Lake in the northern part of the mainland, a lake where a pillar of fire shot up in the middle of it.

"They say a dragon made it", On Ji wrapped her hands around her cup. "Something about a Fire Prince in the past ending the Dragon Hunt and a gold dragon showed up and formed the pillar of eternal flame right in the middle of the lake to give light to the people in the time of need as a show of gratitude— oh…" she tactfully took a sip from her cup to allow Aang to answer his ringing phone, also to hide her smile at the boy's choice of ringtone; some opening theme from a children's cartoon about a bearded-cat going on a picnic to different location on each episode. Air Nomads loved TV shows about travels.

Blushing, Aang answered his phone. "Hello?"

"_Morning, Aang",_ Biao's voice came from the other end. She sounded less cheerful than she had been the last time she called. _"I'm calling to check on you. Are you well?"_

"Yeah, everything's fine", Aang find himself smiling.

"_Good. Good…"_ Biao was silent for a few seconds.

"How are you?" Aang asked.

_"Hmm, what? Oh! Oh, I'm fine. Momo and Appa's fine, too",_ Biao added quickly. _"They're outside, playing with the other bison and lemurs. Don't worry",_ a little of her old cheerful self came back_. "We're taking a good care of them. We use Air Nomad straw and fruit we imported here, and we have vets standing by 24/7. So… yeah…"_

"Thanks, Biao", Aang said sincerely, sinking back a bit in his seat across from On Ji who had her earbuds on as she tinkered with her cellphone. "Are you alright? You sound even more tired that yesterday."

Biao sighed deeply. _"Aang, haven't you heard the news?"_

As if on cue, On Ji sighed and pulled out her earbuds. "Aang, look!" she pressed some button and a small holographic display materialized. A head of a formal looking woman, a news reporter, was announcing with a neutral tone that seemed a little mismatched with the severity of the news.

"—_confirmation from the Northern Water Tribe General Hospital: Princess Yue has deceased",_ the woman said, the hood of her anorak flipping wildly over the light snowy wind. "_We are unable to reach the Royal Families of either Tribes and there are some rumors going around that the Southern Water Tribe's Chief Arnook has left the planet with Prince Sokka and Princess Katara."_

Aang and On Ji turned to each other briefly before returning their gaze to the hologram.

"_In response to this tragedy, the Northern Water Tribe's space barricade has been set up and the whole planet is effectively sealed up despite the outcry of many international delegations still left in the planet. Princess Yue suffered a shot to the chest",_ the reporter informed almost coldly. _"The shot hit her artery and she passed away one hour after the shot due to trauma and severe blood loss—"_

On Ji mercifully closed the news app.

"_Well, now you do",_ Biao called from the other end of Aang's phone. _"Anyway, Lin and the Princess know each other. As I understand it, they're quite close."_

"I haven't visited him", Aang muttered, hand going to his pocket where the business card Lin gave him was.

"_He's away at the moment",_ Biao informed as if knowing his intention. _"Aang…"_ Biao sounded solemn. _"He's trying to smuggle himself to the Water Tribe. I tried to talk him out of it but he's pretty set in his way. Could you talk to him?"_

"I'll try", Aang promised. "Where is he?"

"_I don't know",_ Biao sighed again, deeper even. _"He's impossible to track. He's dating this computer nerd, you see, and she did this… trick to his electronic gadgets that makes him untraceable."_

"I'll try his place tomorrow", Aang said, pulling out the card. "Dragon Pearl Manor…?" he read.

"_Just go to any cab",_ Biao repeated her instruction from the previous day. _"Remember to ask for the Sundisk Garden and head for the shoreline."_

"Got it", Aang nodded. "Thanks, Biao."

They finished their breakfast quickly and left the shop. As they rode across the street, Aang politely refused On Ji's offer to hang out at the mall. When Aang explained the Week of Poverty to On Ji, the latter skidded the vehicle to stop and turned to the monk with a bright smile on her face. "You know what?" her eyes crinkled as she smirked. "I have an idea."

On Ji sped up suddenly, making Aang yelp, and they soon found themselves racing through the blur that was the sides of the ground level traffic. Barely ten minutes passed and they arrived at a slum area in the Capitol with the most eventful thing happening in the journey was when a sleek expensive looking speeder-sedan nearly running them over had On Ji not slammed the steer and evaded expertly.

"Yeah, that's right! Run away!" the girl had unexpectedly shouted at the car that flew up to a higher traffic line. "Can you believe that guy?"

Fire Nation people always have the temper, Aang reminded himself as he could do nothing but grin despite his wildly thumping heart.

"Where did you learn to drive like that?" Aang asked, grinning as he handed On Ji his helmet.

"Eh, you know, country girl", she smirked back as she stored their helmets in the compartment underneath the seat. "Asphalt and anti-gravity are child's play. Back where I came from, we ride wheels on rocky ground."

On Ji led them through what appeared to be a hobo camp; tents and huts made of messily set-up planks of wood, or laundries on clothesline set up to form a wall, or even cardboards and other nondescript material. Aang had heard stories about this kind of place –they don't have slums in the Air Temples- and he was sure they were going to get mugged.

Instead, those people greeted them, mostly On Ji, warmly; some even teased him about Aang being her boyfriend. More than once, they stopped and were invited into the tent or hut to greet some members of the families, usually those who were too old or too sick to get out.

"I come here once or twice with friends to volunteer", On Ji informed as they walked to the square, the middle of the camp where a large cooking pot was tended by several women who were chatting amongst themselves as they cut up some vegetable and meat and added them into the pot while one of them stirred the giant pot with a giant ladle the size of a baseball bat. "These people are homeless for various reasons. Aunt Bing!" On Ji exclaimed, bouncing up and down girlishly while waving at the group of the cooking women. The one tending the pot turned to their direction and smiled equally brightly.

Letting one of the other women to take her place, Aunt Bing, a thin medium-height woman with soft amber eyes and pale skin, black-haired with a feminine top-knot and in a traditional wide-sleeved red robe, walked up to them. She looked a little unwell to Aang and a young girl around On Ji's age coming up to her and, supporting her arm, helping her walk proved Aang's suspicion.

"On Ji", Aunt Bing smiled and her voice, like her whole countenance, felt thin and faint. "How wonderful to see you again. I missed your last shift here, didn't I?"

"Well, I'm here now", On Ji embraced the woman gently. "Oh, and I'm here with a friend", she pulled Aang forward. "Meet Aang. He's an Air Nomad. I thought he could help around."

"Hello, Aang", Aunt Bing bowed a formal Fire Nation bow. "We could always use help around here."

"Aunt Bing", Aang followed the woman to the cooking pot; On Ji had already moved in to help with the distribution of gruel to the early risers. "I have other fellow Air Nomads who came with me. Can I call them here?"

"It'd be great", Aunt Bing smiled.

As Aang moved in to help On Ji, the latter explained to him how the place was actually a miner's camp; it used to be a hobo camp until six months ago when they opened a mine nearby. The Red Rock Mining Industry owned the mine and they were waiting for the supervisor to rebuild their camp; during the spring, there was a sudden and rare occurrence of windstorm that wreck their semi-permanent wooden huts and, well, the mine and the welfare being the responsibility of a privately owned industry based on one of the outer islands, the demands for the rebuilding had been slowly coming.

"The miners are still working, though", On Ji explained as she handed a bowl of hot gruel to queuing men. "The trucks from Red Rock came every month for the crystal. It's really not fair."

"How could they let this go on?" Aang asked solemnly, smiling rather painfully at the snotty bare-chested child in the front line of his queue.

"Who knows", On Ji shrugged as she scooped gruel into an empty bowl and gave it to a woman in her line. "It does seem to concern the local industries though. I heard that the Deep Forest Industry is trying to buy the mine but they're still negotiating about it. Red Rock is pushing for more output so I'm guessing they're going to sell, after all."

The mention of the Deep Forest Industry made Aang think of Lin and his predicament. He knew that he had to see him. It was hard to explain, just like what happened with the masked man from the previous night. It was night now and On Ji had left after lunchtime, come back briefly in the evening and gone home for the day before sundown; Aang and his fellow monks had decided to stay in the camp. Aang had just explained his hunches and his fellow monks encouraged him to go see Lin.

So, with his satchel and glider, and map app ready, he sped through the night on his air scooter, heading to the Sundisk Garden. It was quite a long journey and he got lost several times. But, at last, he arrived at the Garden. A big circular patch of grass with a crisscrossing thin pathways all over the garden, forming some obscure but artistic pattern around the centerpiece of a large golden artistically-carved sundisk.

The garden was situated on top of a tall hill overlooking the ocean; the sound of the waves crashing the rock was deafeningly loud in the night. Aang looked down and traced the shoreline in the dark. He found it going north and, just to be safe, he leaped down the fifty feet height down and air-scootered his way along the shore.

He must have gone on for a long time but there was no end to the shore. It was completely dark now that the streetlights did not shine on the road up on the hill and but he took it as a sign that he was on the right track; Biao did say that the whole valley was privately owned. Aang was contemplating going back and called a cab instead when he remembered the light ball Lin had given him. He rummaged his satchel and extracted the contraption. He tapped it and the bright white light glowed and the ball hovered around him like a small but very close star.

With more confidence, Aang resumed his pace; the ball followed him, maintaining a constant distance. It did not take long before he spotted a light in the distance. Grinning, he sped up and arrived at the grand gate of the magnificent manor. The gate opened up automatically and, despite the tingling feeling at the back of his neck, Aang entered. His feet crunched the pebbled walkway ominously loudly and the front door was opened before he even reached the front porch.

Lin was standing there in a simple black sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy shorts. He smirked a little at Aang who bowed formally at him. "I'm sorry for coming unannounced."

"I actually picked you up on my radar about ten minutes ago", Lin gestured him to come in, waving his cellphone. "Let me guess, Biao sent you here", he sighed as he led the guest into the dimly-lit living room where two glasses of lemonade and a plate of cookies were set on the coffee table. "She wanted you to talk me down", Lin's voice dropped down to a hiss. "Tell me I'm doing a stupid thing or something."

"Yeah, something like that", Aang found himself leaning closer and leveling the volume of his voice to match Lin's; in the late hour of past midnight, their voice was strangely amplified. "She worried about you."

"She worried too much", Lin whispered gravely. "I knew hiring your cousin to be your secretary isn't a good idea."

"She's your cousin?" Aang hissed back loudly. "And why are we whispering?"

"I have…" Lin stopped short, struggling to find a word. "… a… guest."

"A guest? You have another guest coming over?" Aang frowned. Lin's narrowed eyes needed about five seconds to make the idea click in the younger innocent boy's mind. "Oooh…"

"Ah, yeah… _that_ kind of guest", Lin winked and Aang felt light at his smirk; no suicidal grieving man could smirk like that.

"I think I should leave", Aang picked up his glass and drained it in one long gulp.

"We'll do this next time", Lin said, still in low voice as he ushered the guest out. "And don't worry", he reassured the monk again. "I know a lost battle when I see one. I'm staying here for now."

* * *

Aang walked the last few kilometers back to the miners' camp slowly; he was lost in thought.

He was raised in a society where people know each other by name, where people care for each other genuinely. He saw that quality in Lin, in Zhang Wu, in On Ji, Aunt Bing, and Biao. He felt warmth from them.

Fire Nation, he thought to himself as he neared the camp and saw some of his fellow monks still up and sat surrounding the campfire with some of the locals, laughing and chatting over the warm flame. People who carried the Element of Life in them, people who bring warmth, life, and energy everywhere they go.

Aang pondered upon the two characters whom his spiritual self urged him to seek: Lin and the masked man.

Like Yin and Yang, he thought. Lin showed such love to the fallen Water Tribe Princess, he was thinking of smuggling himself to the faraway planet upon hearing the news of her death; the masked man showed little care of his own people, endangering their lives by blowing up a factory. Sure, the masked man had a reason but lives are precious and any acts that endanger or violate lives are to be avoided and prevented.

Two persons of the same Nation, Aang thought as he was about to walk across the street. Two persons of the same Nation but such difference in character and conduct.

A throwing knife soared through the air and embedded itself on the defective lamppost Aang was walking past. The monk fell into his fighting stance and but saw nothing or no one who could have thrown it anywhere. He reached out to it and found a letter tied up around the handle.

_Tomorrow after midnight Sundisk Garden_

The penmanship was not really impressive but Aang made it out just fine.

He could barely sleep that night and woke up quite early despite the very little hours he spent resting. He got through the day in a daze; even Aunt Bing was worried of him. Before he knew it, his cellphone buzzed; he had set his alarm at 12 PM and, extracting his glider, he snuck out and, after he crossed the street safely, he bent an air scooter and sped through the night.

He arrived at the Garden without a hitch and found the place deserted. Not surprising, thought Aang as he moved to the giant sundisk and absentmindedly traced his fingers on the surprisingly warm metal. He breathed in and sat down smoothly in a lotus position. He meditated and waited for the masked man to arrive.

There was no doubt in his mind that the strange masked man sent the letter; Aang had seen the masked man threw similar knife at some point in the fight at the factory. Breathing out, Aang banished all thoughts from his mind and, though he tried to go for peace, he thought instead of the blue eyes and tanned skin.

Shaking his head lightly, he opened his eyes before his thought could get any further than that. Standing in front of him were two figures. The masked man looked no different but the other, unlike the masked man's preference for tight-fitting garb, his companion wore a loose flowing hooded robe and he did not wear any mask thought his hood hid most of his face. He wore light armor under his robe and carried guns in his belt.

Aang stood up and grumbled. "You're late", he stepped closer and, as he got clearer look on the other person's face, he knew that he looked just as shocked as the hooded man.

"Lin…?"


	5. Chapter 5 - Past, Part 1

**Chapter 5 – Past, Part 1**

Disclaimer: own nothing

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Fire Nation Encampment…)_

He spread his arms; his comrades put on his armor for him. In a small makeshift tent, he was dressed in a set of thick metal-plated armor of Fire Nation Army, dark maroon breastplate with bright red trim, belt and heavy cotton tasset, metal-plated boots with Fire Nation pointy toes, and helmet that came with the face mask. He was putting on his gloves when his steed, an ostrich-horse, was brought to him. He mounted it with help, he was too short to do so alone, and, fastening his grip on the reign, a soldier handed him his weapon, a long blunt-tipped lance.

_(…summer, five years ago.)_

The soldier boy nodded slightly and two of the men parted the tent flab. Roaring, the boy spurred his steed through the tent; in front of him, his opponent riding an ostrich-horse and dressed in similar armor and bearing similar weapons did the same, coming from the opposite direction. The two soldier boys closed the fifty meters distance between them and jousted.

The blows were consecutive and sent the two boys flying.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Royal Military Academy…)_

"We hereby congratulate the newest additions of the Fire Nation Military. May Agni preserve you and glory be with our Nation."

_(…summer, seven years ago)_

"Zuzu, I'm bored", the little Fire Princess pouted, crossing her arms. Sitting in her seat in the Royal Box up in the podium, right in front of the flaming throne of Fire Lord Azulon, was not something a little seven-year-old would find entertaining.

"Just hold on, Azula", her nine-year-old brother whispered, wary of their parents sitting on the other side of the box. "It shouldn't be long."

"I wanna go home", Azula said in her whiny voice, she slumped sideways to her brother's arm. "Let's go home."

Zuko was not paying attention to her anymore. He was clapping along with the crowd as his cousin Lu Ten received his commission and decoration, earning an annoyed grunt from his sister, who was nearly thrown off, and a disapproving leer from his father. Several minutes of speech later from Grand General Iroh, Zuko dragged his sister along into the crowd to find their cousin. He found the older boy talking to a shorter boy around Zuko's age near a table across the room and tugged onto his sister's wrist. "Come on, Azula!"

"Stop it. You're hurting me", Azula grunted with slightly puffed cheeks. Getting impatient, the Fire Prince let go and dashed through the crowd without his sister. Azula rubbed her wrist and tidied her garb. She took a step forward and bumped onto some soldier's leg. The large muscular man was not expecting a child bumping into him it seemed and he just stood there as if he was too stunned. "Move", Azula ordered sharply. The soldier's amber eyes widened at the impudence but the golden headpiece on Azula's top-knot was not something anyone could wear. He assumed half-correctly that the tiny girl was a highborn and inclined his head a little as he stepped away.

The muscular soldier's frown turned bright as the little girl walked past him with head held high and someone on the crowd called him. "Lieutenant Zhao!"

Azula approached her cousin and brother; the kid who was talking to her cousin earlier was not there anymore. The little girl bit her lower lip to prevent herself from smiling along with her big cousin but the older Prince's grin was infectious; her cheeks, her eyes, her mouth, her entire face conspired against her effort. So foolish, really. And yet she was literally running and leaping into his big cousin's arms.

"There's the love", Lu Ten laughed, patting the little girl's head that was pressing on his stomach, her small arms constricting his waist.

Tables away, the boy Prince Lu Ten was talking to picked up a glass of lemonade. A man approached and shoved a plate of hardboiled eggs halves with fancy topping of tuna-bass sashimi, a drop of pasty green wasabi, a cut of tomato, and zigzag line of honey mustard; they smelt like feet.

"Oh, come on", Zhang Wu sighed at the boy's look of disgust, putting the plate down and swallowed one of the eggs whole. "In a couple of weeks, you'll be having a wet dream about this. Army food sucks."

"What's a wet dream?" the boy asked innocently. Zhang Wu stopped chewing.

"My Dear Agni, they sent a kid who hasn't had the talk yet now", the veteran soldier sighed. "I still think this is wrong", the man straightened up and bowed formally. "It is a great honor to fight for our country, Lin. And my condolences."

"Thank you", Lin bowed back and picked up an egg. "Such unpatriotic comment in the same room as many military officers and the whole Royal Family. You have turned civilian on me, old man."

"You're eleven", Zhang Wu jabbed back, grinning as Lin tentatively picked up another egg. "Kids are not supposed to fight a war."

Back to the royal kids, Azula was trying hard to reach for a glass on the table, the table that was so freaking tall for a seven-year-old. She tiptoed and extended her tiny arms as far as she could, definitely did not need to be reminded of how smaller she was compared to an average seven-year-old. The tips of her fingers grazed the side of the nearest glass, red crystal glass with something frizzy and carbonated, something clear. Probably apple juice. She preferred the more tangy orange juice but she was thirsty. She mentally grinned as her finger moved the glass, rotating it closer to her grasp. Finally, she got it and picked it up, standing on her feet again.

"Azula! Wait, that's beer!" Lu Ten exclaimed. He moved to the girl and Azula unexpectedly shoved the glass to him with both hands.

"I was getting it for you", Azula said in her innocent tone.

"You were putting it to your mouth", Lu Ten narrowed his eyes sharply at the girl's sweet smile, taking the glass away and took a small sip, still with eyes fixed on the girl. "Oh, it's just apple cider. Here you go", he returned the glass to the Princess.

"Get me some cookies", Azula ordered, sipping her drink.

"Bossy", Lu Ten playfully teased, earning a small pinch on his gut. He dragged a plate of sundisk cookies closer to the edge of the table within his baby cousin's reach and picked up one for her. Kneeling, he gave the crispy yellow butter cookie with circle and lines that depicted childish drawing of the sun made of red molasses. Sighing, he smiled faintly at the girl who nibbled on her cookie.

"What?" Azula asked, chewing, blinking at her big cousin who was still kneeling, smiling strangely at her.

"Baby cousin", Lu Ten sighed, picking a crumb on the girl's face and tucking her bang behind her ear. "My little baby cousin", he sighed again. "Come here", he embraced the girl.

"You're being weird", Azula said, taking care not to spill her cider on her cousin's uniform.

"Oh, my baby cousin", Lu Ten stoked the girl's head on his shoulder. "The youngest ever to pass the Royal Fire University entrance exam. With flying colors no less", he broke the embrace gently, holding the smug girl on the sides of her small face, pushing hair off her face. "I am so proud of you", he said, giving the giggling girl a long wet kiss on the forehead. "So proud of you", he declared, landing numerous tiny kisses on her forehead.

"Dumb-dumb", the Princess giggled, squirming free.

"You'll be fine, right?" Lu Ten asked, grabbing the girl's upper arms; felt just like yesterday little Azula was still learning how to crawl. "College can be scary."

"I'm going to do my lessons online", Azula nibbled on her cookie. "Of course, I'm going to be fine. I'll be staying at home for most of it."

"That's good", Lu Ten looked visible relieved.

"Still, I could use a tutor", Azula muttered, launching a guilt attack with her puppy-dog eyes. "And Zuzu's stupid. So..."

"I am right here, Azula", Zuko growled from behind Lu Ten. Azula poked her tongue at him.

"I'm going to the war, baby cousin", Lu Ten let the girl step into his arms. "But, hey, I'll be leaving in a week. I can still make it to the entrance ceremony", he stroked the girl's back gently. "And we're going to have fun everyday until my deployment, okay? And when I got back…" he smiled at the girl who was gripping his uniform. "…I'll teach you how to break level 5 military encryption, okay?"

Meanwhile, Lin and Zhang Wu were joined by an old man in an officer uniform. His snow white hair tied up into a Fire Nation top-knot, his twin moustache and goatee were trimmed neatly, and he had two vertical scars running down his right eye.

"I still can't believe you are retiring, Admiral", Zhang Wu commented.

"It is time for the young one to continue the fight", the Admiral glanced at his grandson. "We are old, Zhang Wu. It's time we leave the fighting to the younger one."

"Of course", Zhang Wu smiled sadly.

"Perhaps, you too should consider permanent retirement", Jeong Jeong suggested. "You are serving in our homeland as a liaison now, but who knows if they will re-commission you to the combat unit."

Zhang Wu smiled, exchanging covert glance with Lin. They definitely would not tell the Admiral that Zhang Wu had requested a transfer to his old combat unit in the warfront. "What about you, Admiral", Zhang Wu asked instead. "What are you going to do, now that you are a civilian?"

"I have not thought of it", Jeong Jeong pondered aloud. "Perhaps I will commit myself to teach firebending fulltime to the young ones in my family. Or, I can try my hands in some new field; I do like to paint in my free time. Anything, really. Anything that has nothing to do with violence or war."

Zuko, picking up a plate of strawberry pastry for his little sister, asked Lu Ten the question he had been dying to ask.

"Of course I'll be fighting in the warfront, Zuko", Lu Ten laughed boisterously, much like his father did. "I'm not going to another planet to be a pencil pusher", he said, dabbing the pinkish cream on Azula's cheek with a napkin.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Fire Nation Encampment, Summer, Seven Years Ago, one month after the party…)_

General Iroh entered the command tent with his lieutenant son on tow. The Dragon of the West was short and plump but his hedonistic frame hid his prowess as a warrior well. His armor was customized to fit his pudgy build, his armor was royal dark red with crimson accent, and on his waist were twin red leather holsters embossed with intricate and artistic pattern of leaves, and they had flaps with small golden buttons, engraved with the white lotus pattern.

The Grand General nodded at his officers' salute and gestured them to sit back down at the long table on which a large map of the Western Shore was spread with tiny flags of red and green dotting the map in clusters.

"General Wu Chao", Iroh called, receiving a cup of steaming tea from his son.

"Yes, sir", a short middle-aged man with raspy voice rose and saluted.

"What news of our supply?" Iroh sipped his tea.

"They will arrive shortly, General", Wu Chao replied, consulting his tablet as he did so. "I received news from the men an hour ago; they met General Jiang's 212st Battalion and hitched a ride on their airships, sir."

"Good", Iroh stroked his beard. "What about this Western Earth Base?"

A tall young officer cleared his throat loudly and stood up. "Our spies' report indicates that the base is led by one General Fong", murmur broke across the table. "Most of us have met him in battle. In fact, I'm pretty sure General Jiang will find this campaign personal, General Iroh", the young officer inclined his head at the Grand General.

"Yes, I have heard of the story", Iroh smiled. "Lu Ten, contact General Jiang. I want to know their position."

The young lieutenant halted his writing on his tablet with his digital pen. "Yes, Fa— um, I mean, General", Lu Ten tapped several times and from the built-in camera on his table, a holographic display came out and projected above the table. A rectangular screen of static with a blinking word '_Connecting…_' blinked into existence and, after five seconds or so, the face of General Jiang appeared.

"General Iroh, sir", Jiang, the clean-shaven thirty something man with Fire Nation top-knot and bright amber eyes, saluted.

"General Jiang, it is good to see you in person soon", Iroh greeted.

"We have encountered a bit of snag, sir", Jiang replied with that firm expression of his. "Our airships are being bombarded. We are passing through Northern Wu Lin Forest right now. We cannot see our attackers; they're in the forest. I'm guessing tanks and anti-aircraft, sir. We may need to land and resume our march by land."

"I understand", Iroh stroked his beard again; gesturing to Lu Ten, circling his finger on the map of the table; Lu Ten understood and tapped several times on his tablet. A holographic display of the Western Shore came up. "I will send an escort force to meet you here", Iroh pointed at a spot in the map, south of the Senlin Village along the shoreline. "We will see you soon."

"Understood, sir", General Jiang saluted. "We'll see you soon."

Jiang nodded at his aide who turned off communication. Turning to the men who shared the cramped space of their transport airship that was rocking ever so slightly as the cannon shot from below hit their deflector shield, the General addressed the soldiers. "Alright, men! You heard the Grand General! We'll land and continue on foot! Let's show these dirt-eaters how Fire Nation men fight!"

The men cheered for him; his aide ordered the pilot to take them down without waiting for Jiang's instruction.

The general turned to a pale-faced boy standing by his side. Grinning, he patted the boy's head roughly, making his helmet tipped lopsided.

"So, what do you think of the war so far, camp?" he grinned.

Lin shrugged, not trusting himself to open his mouth. He was gonna hurl.

* * *

Lin let the push from his gut travel through his throat to his mouth; he let the vomit flow out. Painful constriction of his throat, choking him, followed by a wave of relief and slight burn of his stomach acid in his throat. He let the wave wash across him as he emptied his gut and turning on the faucet of the sink to wash down the vomit, he scooped some water into his mouth and rinsed his mouth. He scooped some more and drank it, feeling how raw his throat felt as the water gushed down.

He looked up and saw himself in the mirror.

He needed to shave.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Dragon Pearl Manor…)_

He scratched his stubbly chin and upper lip, noticing his bloodshot eyes. He did not usually drink this much but…

…_the noise…_

…he thought he could handle it. That Earth Kingdom Si Wong arak must be stronger than he thought.

Lin closed his eyes; the light hurt his eyes. He splashed water on his face a little. He splashed water on his face some more. And more. More…

_(…Summer, Day 16, Month 5, Tuesday…11:43 PM)_

It was raining out there. So noisy… the sound of raindrops drumming his roof and wall, distant thunder rumbling and roaring, the ocean below the cliff where his manor was located roaring and splashing…

…_rumbling of war tanks and airships, explosions, cannons, bombs… screaming… people screaming… people always scream…_

…used to calm him down. He inherited the manor from his grandmother who died when he was younger; it was intended to be his coming-of-age present. Nothing like a lavish manor to show a boy he was a grown-up and could be trusted with something big. He loved it here. He was given the manor officially a few years after his induction to the military…

…_officer screaming order, got hit on the neck… soldiers screaming battle cry, running across the dirt, guns blazing and bending roaring…_

…a little sooner than expected. But, Lin did not protest. He loved the sound of the ocean. The soft faraway gentle growl of the water used to lull him to sleep whenever he visited his grandmother here when he was little, sitting on her lap on the balcony, her gentle hand stroking his hair as he slept in her arms.

Lin turned off the faucet and leaned on his hands, regulating his breathing and his chi; the veil of haze and daze in his head cleared up as he took in a deep breath and exhaled fume, the marble underneath his hands did not feel so cool anymore. He looked up to the mirror once more and a thunder broke through the noise of the rain.

…_the wall of Ba Sing Se came crumbling down…_

He shut his eyes and tried to breathe…

…_sound of cannons, whistling of plasma bolts… screaming… people screaming… people always scream…_

He turned around and got out of the bathroom, groaning at the girl standing by his bed, hands on her waist and her amber eyes judgmental. Lin walked to her and hugged her, reaching to the empty glass on his nightstand covertly and the bottle of milky white liquid near it. He sat down and poured himself a glass but Biao snatch it before the glass touched his lips.

"No. Alcohol is bad for you", the girl said firmly, snatching the bottle next. "When I finally meet this friend of yours, remind me to hit him upside the head."

"Sending people booze is Si Wong people's way of showing hospitality", Lin said, suddenly feeling dizzy again.

"You shouldn't drink too much", Biao sighed, sitting down. She inspected the glass and its peculiar content, sniffed it a bit, and, shrugging a little, downed in in one gulp.

"Hypocrite", Lin plopped down on his back.

"Oh, shut it", Biao snapped, pouring herself another glass. "Being your cousin is a thankless job", she drained her second glass and put the glass and bottle on the floor. The girl sighed deeply and plopped down beside her cousin. "You didn't show again today. The Red Rock people are getting antsy."

Lin turned to his cousin and saw lethargy setting in.

Biao rolled to her side and looked into the bloodshot amber of the boy. "You have a problem", she said and Lin suspected she had been looking for an opportunity to say it. "You need help."

"I don't have a problem", Lin squirmed closer and snuggled up into the girl's embrace, hiding his face and tucking himself under her chin. "And I don't need help. I'm doing fine."

"Lin, running around in a hood at night is not a healthy way to cope", Biao's voice trembled but she held strong as she stroked the boy's head. "We are worried about you. When is the last time you talk to your dad?"

"You smell nice", Lin muttered. "New perfume?"

"Apricot", Biao sniffed, dabbing the corner of her moist eyes.

"I thought you hated apricot", Lin snickered.

"I hate the fruit, not the smell", Biao cleared her throat and sat up. "Get some sleep, okay", she leaned down and kissed the boy on the cheek.

"Biao", Lin called; he noticed that he sounded panicky. "Um… w-would you… stay here? I'm…"

…_scared…_

"… I don't…" his throat felt dry.

Biao understood. She plopped back down and they stayed in silence, staring onto the ceiling. Lin's cellphone buzzed and he picked it up, smiling at the caller's ID.

"Hey, Princess", Lin greeted smoothly.

"_You use Altair, right?"_ Azula asked without preamble.

"Model A24", Lin smiled at his Princess' lack of social skills that he found quite endearing. Biao heard the voice over the maxed-out phone and mischievously snuggled closer to Lin to eavesdrop. "Increased barrel strength, improved accuracy, decreased blowback, and I fixed in fingerprint lock. Why?"

"_It's time for equipment requisition again. I'm deciding between an Altair or a Polaris like Zuko's. I like Spica and all but the firepower is low",_ Azula muttered.

"Who's on the phone?" Biao asked with femininely soft voice.

"_Who's that?"_ Azula asked sharply over the phone.

"No one, just Biao. Say hi", Lin handed the phone to his giggling cousin.

"Hey, girlfriend", Biao greeted cheerfully, pressing the button to lower the volume. "How's the law enforcing going?"

"_Zuko got hit by a car last week when he was chasing a suspect"_, Azula huffed. _"I think it hurt but I wouldn't know. I'm still not allowed to get into the action. What I wouldn't give to get hit by a car…"_

"Yeah, dream big, girl. Nothing's more thrilling than vehicular accident", Biao stifled a smile. "By the way, is it time to shop for new undies yet?"

"_No, my old ones still fit",_ Azula replied.

"Well, when the time comes, just give me a call, okay. Bye", Biao smiled, handing the phone back to Lin.

"You shop for your delicates with my cousin?" he wasted no time to ask.

"_Biao is older, more knowledgeable about this sort of thing, and, unlike Ty Lee or Mai, she has acceptable taste", _Azula explained matter-of-factly. _"Ty Lee still wears panties that have cartoon picture and frills and Mai has a strange taste."_

"What kind of strange?" Lin asked curiously, grinning.

"_Let me help you draw a mental picture",_ Azula cleared her throat. _"Garter belts, corset, leather whip, furry handcuffs."_

"Kinky", Lin snickered.

"_More like 'creepy'",_ he could feel Azula shivered. _"I don't usually judge people based on what they wear under their robe but… she's dating my brother. Brr…"_

Lin laughed. Mischievously, he teased. "And what are _you_ wearing right now?"

"_The usual, I guess. I'm still at my office",_ Azula said with her usual flat tone; Lin could not help but smile. _"Lots of paperwork to do. I think I may have to stay the night here."_

"Yeah…"

"_Hmm…"_

"…"

_"…"_

"…"

"_This is the part where I should ask about your day, isn't it?"_ Azula asked unsurely.

"Depends. Did Ty Lee teach you this?"

"_Yup."_

"Then, I think it is", Lin whispered. "She's good at this kind of thing."

"_Okay. Here goes. *ehem* How was your day?"_ she sounded awfully cheerful. Uncharacteristically so.

"Good. I skipped a meeting again today. How was yours?" Lin matched her tone.

"_Boring",_ Azula yawned. _"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Lunch?"_

"Hmm… busy, sorry", Lin said. "Dinner?"

"_Okay",_ Azula replied. _"See you at Shinrin?"_

"Actually, I'm thinking some place more fancy", Lin said, hurting head forced his brain to plan the romantic dinner he had just totally thought up. "I'll pick you up?"

"_No, I'll drive to your place",_ Azula decided.

"You're staying over, right?" Lin asked, already knowing the answer.

"_Yeah. Zuko and Mai are having a romantic dinner tomorrow; something about anniversary or something. You wouldn't know but they're quite like—*thud* ow!"_

"You okay there?" Lin asked, mouth tingling.

"_I snubbed my toe on my desk",_ Azula grunted, whimpering.

"Aw, poor baby", Lin crooned. "Say goodnight to your toe for me."

"_Dummy!"_

"Night~"

"_Dummydummydummydummy…"_

"See you tomorrow~"

"…_dummydummydummydummydummy…"_

"Bye", he hung up. Lin turned to his left where a smirking Biao was staring at him.

"I like her", Biao voiced her opinion. "She's cute and smart and funny in her own weird way. She's a good influence on you. You should marry her."

"Yeah", Lin snorted, trying not to feel too comfortable with the heat washing over his face. "Anyway…" he cleared his throat, looking at Biao meaningfully.

Biao exasperated. "Fine, I know, you're in over your head", she crossed her arms, shaking her head. "I'll arrange the dinner."

"You're the best", Lin grinned, tucking his head under her chin once more.

"Now, sleep", Biao ordered as she pulled the cover over them both. It was hard to believe sometimes that her youngest cousins had grown this much.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Western Shore, Summer, Seven Years Ago, one day after the 212st Battalion arrival…)_

It was a hot humid night when General Jiang led his advanced vanguard south. The general turned to the boy and scrutinized his equipment: armor and helmet fixed up good, his handgun in his holster, a short sword strapped on his back, childish pout on his face, four bodyguards the general had handpicked himself stood around him with their weapons ready.

The general chuckled as he propped his rifle on his broad shoulder.

"It's not funny", Lin grumbled, crossing his arms. "I can fight!"

"You're a battle strategist, kid", Jiang reminded the boy. "Strategists don't fight", the turned to the men and signaled them to move. "Just stay close to Bara and… stay out of trouble, okay."

The general turned around quickly before his son could see his amused smile.

"Come on, Young Master", Bara pushed the visor of her helmet up, stifling a smile herself as she cocked her submachine gun. She led the way, followed closely by the still miffed boy and the other three bodyguards.

They were elites, alright; even their uniforms were different. Bara wore the female uniform of sleeveless vest armor, dark maroon with gold trim, midriff exposed above her cargo pants that covered down to her shins, her boots metal-plated and she had knives holstered on them. She wore a belt with pouches and a pair of handgun holstered on her thighs. A crossbow was strapped on her back and a tight quiver of bolt on her lower back.

"Rock", Bara called back to the biggest of the bodyguards. "Keep sharp. I heard there might be earthbenders."

Rocky grunted, tugging the bandolier of grenades across his broad chest a little. He firmly grabbed his heavy machine gun. Sleeveless in his rough metal armor, the man was packing more than just heat; green emerald eyes, slightly tanned skin, brown hair and beard, and barefooted safe for a strip of cloth wrapped on around each foot and shin.

The other two men grinned at each other, both wearing similar light garb and armor, bearing slim sniper rifles on their backs along with a bow and a quiver of arrows, and archery glove on their right hand. One of them was wearing brick-red war paint across his eyes the shape of batwings and a headband with a red triangle on the middle, signature look of the Yu Yan Archer.

"Come on", Lin grinned, fixing his helmet. "What could go wrong? We're taking them by surprise; they won't even know we're coming."

"That's what you said last time", one of the snipers, the one without the face paint smirked, keeping his tone low as they skulked through the thick bush in the dark of night. "We were almost shot down from the sky."

"Hey! That's not my fault!" Lin hissed defensively, crawling on all four along with the rest through the low bushes. "I devised the perfect plan. The intel we've got was flawed; they said the Earth Kingdom had abandoned this sector. I'm brilliant", he added none too humbly. "But, my brilliance can only shine so much when other people in the intel department are idiots. Human error is a strategist's greatest enemy."

Somebody screamed 'SNAKE!' and chaos ensued.

"See", Lin jabbed his thumb at the direction of the screaming and shouting. "Human error."

* * *

"…human error. This is no freak accident, ladies and gentlemen. This is carelessness", the boring looking old man droned one. "One that we must ensure to never happen again."

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Deep Forest Industry - Meeting Room, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 10:46 AM)_

Lin tried to hold against the painful throbbing of his head. He reached to his glass of cloudy liquid and took a sip, nearly gagging as the result. He leered to his left where Biao covertly scratched her nose to hide her smirk while pretending to be occupied with taking down notes on her tablet; Lin had specifically ordered a glass of the Si Wong arak but apparently Biao intercepted it and replaced it with similar looking barley water. Lin hated barley water.

The sight of Lin pinching the bridge of his nose suddenly drew him the full attention of the whole room and their curious glance. Lin cleared his throat and smiled professionally. "Please excuse me", he got up and tidy up his robe. "My secretary will take care of this. I have something to do."

The eighteen-year-old boy got out of the room, barely registering the murmur breaking out as the automatic door slid closed.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Fire Nation Encampment, Summer, Seven Years Ago, one day after the 212st Battalion arrival…)_

"This is so embarrassing!" Lin protested from under Taka who held him to the ground. With a handgun in one hand and his young charge's head on the other, the slim sniper was shielding the said young charge from any harm as green and red plasma bolts, and blasts of fire and chucks of rock, flew above their heads. "I can fight!" Lin yelled.

"Hush, little child!" Bara snickered, firing away at any opponents who dared came close with Rocky and the war-painted sniper. "Leave the fighting to the grown-ups."

Rocky leaped forward and bent a series of rough but strong earth walls; Bara, the sniper, and the nearby soldiers hurried forward to take cover between them. Taka literally picked the protesting battalion strategist up by his waist and carried him behind cover. Grinning at the boy, Bara winked playfully at Rocky who was taking cover behind the wall next to hers and dashed forward through the volley of earth and green plasma bolts. Several likeminded soldiers pushed ahead along with her.

Rocky exhaled sharply and came out next, bending a series of walls further ahead.

"Why do people insist on treating me like a kid?" Lin grumbled, sitting cross-legged.

"Because you are a kid", Taka replied, readying his rifle. "You're eleven, for Agni's sake."

"I'm as good as any men out there", Lin huffed. "I can fight", he scowled. "I'll show them."

* * *

_I'll show them…_

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Jawwa District, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 11:20 AM)_

In his dark red speeder-car, Lin fixed his hood. His jet-black hair was no longer in top-knot; he had retied it into a more comfortable (…_natural… practical_…) simple ponytail and wore a tight-fitting light armor and hooded-garb, all colored dark. He took a swig from his bottle of sweet wine to drown the noise (…_in his head_…) of the busy traffic around. Dark-tinted glass hid him from view; his car hidden in the alley, hovering fifteen inches above ground. He put down his bottle and picked up a box of simple cheap bento and began eating.

Somebody knocked on the passenger's door and entered without asking. Zhang Wu settled in and locked the door after he sat down.

"You look terrible", the older man commented without tact.

"You're fat", Lin jabbed back. Zhang Wu broke into a boisterous laughter.

"Anyway", Zhang Wu wiped his teary eyes, taking out a small flash drive from his pocket and fixed it in the dashboard. A hologram scene appeared in front of them on the windshield. Zhang Wu tapped on the folders and opened up a series of photographs. "Drug trafficker", he informed, pointing at a photograph of a rough-looking man with a scar across his mouth. "And, your favorite", Zhang Wu brought up a photograph of another man, younger and slicker, grinning like a fox. "Human trafficker, specialized in underage Earth Kingdom children."

"I've seen his face before, I think", Lin said unsurely. "Ruon Jian… isn't he some hotshot from the outer islands?"

"Grandson of General Wu Chao, privileged rich kid with too much free time and too little conscience", Zhang Wu enlarged the picture while Lin, chewing his last bite, checked his Altair A24, a semi-automatic handgun with the distinctive grooves near the tip. "Are you going to kill him?"

"Possibly", Lin tilted his head and tested the aim of his gun. "He tried to molest one of my nieces. You know Ming Yi?"

"Your cousin Yang's daughter?" Zhang Wu looked shocked. "She's only twelve."

"And quite stupid", Lin added harshly. "We've told her to stay away from those older boys. She was lucky my friend Ty Lee was at that party."

"You're being too hard on her", Zhang Wu commented patiently.

"I can't stand stupidity", Lin put his gun back to the holster on his front waist. He fingered his portable sword handle on his left waist and his secondary gun on his right thigh holster. Tugging on his hood one more time, he opened his door and stepped one foot out.

"Well, go get them, Dark One", Zhang Wu turned off the computer.

Lin bristled and turned around. "Don't give me name."

"You need a name", Zhang Wu said as Lin got out. "What about the Black Spirit? The Shadow?!" he shouted at the boy who was walking away, putting on his robe as he walked. "The Nightshade!"

Lin waved his arm dismissively as he disappeared into the dark alley ahead.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Fire Nation Encampment, Summer, Seven Years Ago, one week after the 212st Battalion arrival…)_

"Dude, you're a clerk", Lin laughed at Lu Ten who grumbled as he typed the document General Iroh had him to work on.

"Yeah? We'll you're just a battle-squint", Lu Ten snapped. "You're no better than me."

"Well, actually, Lieutenant", Lin chuckled. "I have good news for you."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I'm a captain."

"DAMMIT, DAD!"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Jawwa District, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 11:45 AM)_

Ruon Jian, in his fashionable sleeveless garb that showed off the well-toned muscle under his tanned skin, leaned on his hand on the metal table in the empty warehouse, smirking at how his muscle contracted like a sculpture. The sound of the door opening disturbed his self-adoration and a bearded man with a scar running across his mouth entered. Ruon Jian waved his tensed men off and the rough man resumed his step.

"Ruon Jian", the rough looking man nodded slightly as he put his briefcase down on the table; Ruon Jian regarded him with a simple flick of his chin.

"What do you have, Gorra?" Ruon Jian grinned at the rough looking man who was busy with the lock of the briefcase.

"Five kilos", Gorra turned to briefcase to show the content to Ruon Jian; packs of white powder made Ruon Jian visibly happy.

"Nice", Ruon Jian took out a small knife and twirled it flashily. He pierced one of the packs, scooped a tiny pile on the tip of the blade, and sniffed it.

Over their heads, Lin perched on a horizontal beam, assessing his situation; the table right below him was surrounded by Ruon Jian, Gorra, and eight of their men.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Fire Nation Encampment, Spring, Five Years Ago…)_

"I see", the thirteen-year-old captain stroke his chin as he assessed the holographic display of one circular battlement surrounded by four gun towers. "Airships are obsolete; they're—"

_beep…beep…_

"Sorry", Lu Ten grinned awkwardly, picking up his cellphone. "Hi, baby cousin. Can't talk right now. Call you later."

"_But, I—"_

_*click*_

"Riiight", Lin drawled, saving his friend's butt by drawing attention back to his plan. "My scout reported that there is a tunnel running into the basement", Lin tapped the holographic battlement and it enlarged, showing a highlighted red line that represented the said tunnel running from a point on the wall of the cliff on which the battlement stood and mazing inside the battlement into a point underground labeled 'underground water supply'. "We can blow a hole here", Lin pointed at a wall alongside the tunnel right before the 'underground water supply'. "So, we're going to need a distraction."

"We can send out tanks and bombard the battlement", General Iroh nodded at his Council. "How long do you need?"

"I estimate half an hour", Lin said firmly. "As soon as your fire let up, their attention will be focused on the defense and we will use our grappling hooks to get to the top of the battlement", Lin pointed at the slanted round roof of the command building on the center of the battlement. "Earth Kingdom Military, as we all know, has a different protocol; their high ranking officers stay behind to direct the soldiers. We'll sneak in from above them and take them by surprise."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Jawwa District, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 11:46 AM)_

"…_sounds like a good plan",_ Lin pondered mentally. He had the element of surprise on his side.

Readying himself mentally, he looked down, ready to attack. Ruon Jian putting a duffle bag on the table and poured a pile of pure red energy crystals.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Western Earth Base – Command Center, Spring, Five Years Ago…)_

Hidden in the ceiling, Lin's amber eyes grew as wide as saucers as they peeked below from the grates of the ventilation grit. The thirteen-year-old captain turned to his men and saw similar expression of surprise on their faces.

"We have to get that intel!" Bara hissed gravely.

Taka, who was still peeking, interrupted them. "Hey, Fong took the disc", he whispered. "If he gets away, our only chance is the computer hard drive. Sort of makes you wish Lu Ten was here, huh?"

"Yeah", Lin nodded. "We have to be careful not to damage the main computer; that goes double for you guys", he stared sharply at Rocky and Chey, the two demolition experts in their team of ten. A distant rumble rocked the building; the second barrage had begun. "Well, this is it", Lin nodded.

They nodded back and began slithering and crawling silently, taking position. Along with his men, paired with Taka, Lin readied his foot to kick down the grate.

They waited for most of the men in the command center to vacate the room, and for General Fong, the tall bare-footed man in traditional Earth Kingdom armor to stop giving order. Once the long-bearded general took his position in front of the computer screen showing the camera view of the battle outside, Lin and Taka spearheaded the grate kicking.

Lin and his ten men leaped down to the tiled floor and ran to find cover in the cover-deficient room. There was a wide round panel of computers with a main screen located on the window. Fong was standing in the middle of the circle when Lin and his men attacked.

Skulking low behind the computer panel, Lin and Taka nodded at each other, ready with their special mission Lin had decided they would undertake. Taka stood first; abandoning his sniper rifle in favor of easier to wield and faster bow and arrow, the sniper shot several consecutive shots, hitting a target each time. The Earth Kingdom were taken by surprise and they stood no chance.

Just as Lin had predicted.

The few guards in the room that remained regained their composure and began their defense; Lin's outnumbered but not outmatched force swept over them, robbing their home base advantage.

"Fong's getting away", Lin shouted over the noise; Fong, turning at the closing electronic door, grinned at the boy who fired wild shots from his handgun at him.

"Dammit!" Lin threw away his gun as he ran out of bullets. He reached for his sword on his back and yanked it free; dashing after Fong, two soldiers tried to stop him but his lightning fast slashes took care of them. Leaping over the remainder distance he had, he kicked a powerful blast of flame that failed to break the metal door.

"Lin!" Bara ran up to her, shooting the last Earth Kingdom soldier on her way. "He got away. What do we do now?"

Seething, Lin slashed his sword to dispose of the blood. "We stick to the plan", he turned to his men, who were rounding up the wounded, and gave their further order. "Set up a defensive barricade", he nodded to Chey and Rocky. "And get the communication up" and to a combat mechanic they brought with them. "Patch us through to General Iroh. Tell him to go on the offensive."

Still seething and sore over Fong's escape, Lin watched his men work as he leaned on the computer panel; Bara flashed him a weak smile as she walked past him, dragging a dead soldier by the wrist. Lin felt the rush and the adrenaline dying out, and suddenly, everything felt so real, the noise deafening and the light dizzyingly bright, the metal case of the computer panel below his hands cold and his legs heavy.

Something buzzed and all eyes turned to the commlink on the panel.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Jawwa District, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 11:47AM)_

_Bzzt…bzzt…_

With a man headlocked in his left arm and his right leg, Lin punched the third man who rushed towards him and fished his cellphone out of one of his belt pouches and answered impatiently. "Yeah, this is not a good time."

"_Hello? Lin? Are you okay?"_

"Oh, hi! Yue! It's Yue! Yue's… calling…" Lin laughed nervously, mentally facepalmed. He hopped on his remaining free foot and delivered a front kick at Ruon Jian's face; the latter was coming at him with a chair.

"_Lin?"_ on the other planet, Yue stifled a yawn at the early morning sunrise. _"Are you okay?"_ she repeated her question as she lay back down on her bed_. "You asked me to call, remember?"_

"Yeah, of course I did. I know that", Lin was cut midsentence to hold his balance as the two men he locked with arm and leg struggled to get free. "Um, could you hold for a moment?"

"_Sure."_

"Awesome", Lin breathed as he tossed his phone up in the air.

Hopping up, he twisted midair and brought the two men he locked flying with him and tumbling to the ground. Lin sprung up and somersaulted backward to avoid a fire blast from Gorra. The moment his feet touched the ground, Lin spun and delivered a powerful fire blast from his spin kick that sent the rough-looking man to the ground. Ruon Jian halted his advanced as he witness Gorra, the last man standing beside him, fell to the ground unconscious. Giving one last look of horror, Ruon Jian turned tail and ran.

Lin wasted no time to fling a throwing knife at his back, nicking him at his shoulder. Ruon Jian fell down and screamed in pain, and Lin caught his phone as it fell back down. Ruon Jian scrambled up quickly but before Lin could give a chase, Ruon Jian turned to him and aimed something at Lin; Lin instinctively leaped backward for cover, jumping behind the upturned table, and drawing his gun. Instead of explosion that Lin was expecting, the area surrounding the center of the warehouse where the transaction had been going on was suddenly encased by a dome of deflector shield with around four or five meter of diameter.

"_Hello? Hello? Lin?"_

"Um…" Lin drawled, eyes studying the tiny red dots of light on the floor that circled along the line of the dome; Ruon Jian was long gone by now. "Yue, can I call you back?"

"_Oh, are you busy or something?"_ Yue asked.

"Or something. More like I'm in the middle of something right now", _yep…_

"_Oh, sorry",_ Yue apologized. "_I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."_

"Oh, no, no, nothing like that", Lin holstered his gun back, crouching low and squinted at the red light. "Although, I do get the feeling that things might get explosive if I don't tread carefully, so…" war had taught him that tiny red light usually meant things would go boom.

"_Yeah, I understand_", Yue muttered.

"I'll call you in an hour or so, okay?" Lin offered, smiling.

"_Okay",_ Yue said brightly. _"Bye."_

"Bye", Lin hung up. Sighing, he got up and looked up, rubbing his head under his hood. He was completely caged by the layer of energy and just knew from experience that the tendril of electricity that ran over the layer of translucent dome meant it was not accessible physically; it would electrocute him. They used the same technology at the Fire Nation Boiling Rock Prison.

Knowing he had no other way out, Lin dialed a number on his phone.

"Hey", he said, smiling a bit and, despite the pickle he was in, feeling all fluttery in his chest. "I need your help."

…_(half an hour later)…_

"So", Azula commented, crossing her arms and smirking at him. "The great mysterious Black Shadow managed to get himself caught by the villains, huh?"

Lin groaned. "Don't give me vigilante name. I don't have vigilante name. I'm cool and dark and mysterious that way. And I'm not even a vigilante; I'm a mercenary."

Azula snorted as she looked around for a switch or something. Her amber eyes happened to fall on the remote Ruon Jian had apparently dropped and she walked there to pick it up, stomping a baddie who roused up on the face on her way back. She studied the buttons for awhile and pressed a specific one. The dome of electrified shield died out and Lin quickly stepped away from the spot.

"So, what do you have for me?" Azula wasted no time to ask, poking a fainted guy with her foot.

"That's Gorra, drug trafficker", Lin pointed at the rough man who was sprawling on the floor, still unconscious. "There's another one who got away. Ruon Jian", he added darkly.

"As in Ruon Jian who tried to roofie Mai that one time at Ty Lee's birthday party?" Azula narrowed her eyes sharply.

"Yeah, he locked me there", Lin took out a small device from his pouch. "Here", he handed the touchscreen device and Azula turned it on to a view of the city map with a blinking red dot. "I got him with one of my knives."

"Nice", Azula muttered, walking away while dialing her phone.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – General Wu Chao's Residence, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 12:56 PM)_

"Well", Azula smirked as she tapped her wheel, turning to Lin who was sitting in the passenger's seat of her car, parked across the street from the lavish mansion. "With your recording of the deal and Gorra's testimony, we can finally take this jerk down", she noticed Lin's eyeing the front of the house where the press had gathered and were busily snapping the picture of Zuko and Jee escorting the handcuffed Ruon Jian to a police car; the vigilante's amber eyes shone like a raven-hawk's. "Cheer up", Azula said with a strange tenderness in her tone. "We got him this time."

"For how long?" Lin asked gravely. "He's just going to get away again."

"True", Azula nodded sagely. "Recording of a drug deal and illegal possession of unrefined power crystals are not going to sway the jury, especially since it comes from a vigilante."

"Mercenary!"

"Which is why…" she smirked, ignoring Lin, reaching for her laptop on the backseat. "…_I_ will hack into his private server and…" she typed away almost happily. "…uh, got it! Harbor District, Wharf 2034", she closed her laptop and stored it below her seat. "Come on, buckle up", she put on her seatbelt.

Starting the car, they drove in silence; mostly because Azula was speeding (again) and Lin did not want to distract her concentration. Also, he felt queasy and… oh, dear Agni, what a beautiful early summer afternoon sky; he hoped it would not be his last.

They drove through in fifteen minutes the distance that should have taken forty five in the afternoon traffic. Lin quickly stepped out and fixed his hood to hide his sigh of relief.

"I find it insulting that my boyfriend shows such distaste to my driving", Azula got out more gracefully as she put on her armor over her garb and checked her Spica.

"Yes, I do apologize for that", Lin replied just as quaintly. "But, you seriously need to take a driving lesson. Wait, did you just call me your boyfriend?"

"…No", Azula evaded but Lin noticed her bristling for a split second. "Shut up", she grumbled at Lin's knowing smile as she led the way to the warehouse.

"You're cute when you're in denial", Lin teased as he paced up to her; Azula elbowed him sharply.

As they neared the warehouse's front door, they skulked low behind the pile of crates that littered around the driveway. Lin took out his gun and turned off the safety.

"Hey", Azula called, eyeing his gun. "Can we switch gun?"

Lin blinked at her disbelievingly. "Seriously…?"

"What?" Azula whined. "I've told you I want to try an Altair. And besides, Altair and Spica are about the same size. You shouldn't have problem with mine."

Lin sighed and ignored her. He took a peek over the crate but Azula called him. "Why does Altair have more firepower?"

"Really?!" Lin hissed furiously as he ducked back down. "Not now!... it's the improved supercharging mechanism. Now, drop it!"

"Okay, sheesh!" Azula grumbled. "You're in a bad mood."

Lin turned to her again and one look at her innocent angelic face, his anger just… _poof!_ …disappeared. "You are one weird girl."

"Thank you", Azula replied sweetly. She took a peek over the crate and ducked back down. "Okay. So, here's the plan", she spoke like a war general. "I'll blast the door with lightning, we rush in, and shoot anything in sight. Any question?"

"Yeah…" Lin drawled. "How about we do it my way? We climb the roof and enter through the skylight. And you get to break it~", he added the last part with such glee as if he was talking to a child.

"Interesting, I do like breaking glasses", Azula pondered aloud. "But, I'm not much of a climber."

Azula suddenly stopped and turned to Lin with a blooming grin.

"Oh, no…" Lin drawled.

"Oh, yes…" Azula smirked.

Five minutes later…

"Ow! Don't step on my head!" Lin snapped, holding Azula's ankles as the girl climbed on his shoulder and tried to reach the ledge of the roof that the tips of her fingers barely grazed.

"I still couldn't reach it", Azula grunted, reaching as high as she could, holding on to the brick wall for balance as she hopped and tiptoed on Lin's shoulder. "Oh, screw this!"

The young lieutenant leaped down and, as soon as her feet touched the ground, bursts of blue flame erupted from her feet, propelling her all the way up to the roof. She peeked down to Lin who scowled at her. Sighing, Lin mimicked her move and orange flame sent him flying.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Lin demanded in a sharp whisper.

"Why didn't _you_?" Azula countered, evading her eyes.

"I…" Lin stopped midsentence, speechless. "I didn't think of that, okay?" Lin and Azula turned to top of the slanted roof. "Wait!" he whipped his head to Azula's direction. "Why didn't you use firebending earlier?"

Azula stifled her smirk as she scaled ahead. Lin, sighing deeply, went after her. They stopped just below the glass skylight. They peeked below and saw no one below; just patches of sunlight enlightening the numerous unmarked crates inside.

"Okay", Azula skulked low; their heads were casting shadow down there. "I don't see anyone. You?"

"No", Lin tinkered with his bracer; a holographic interface popped up. A circular scanning of the warehouse below showed that the place was unoccupied by any heat signature. "No traps or people, I think. Wait…" Lin tapped the burning-orange clump on the corner of the scan and enlarged it. His eyes, along with Azula's, grew wide as they made out the shapes of human sitting on the floor in group, hugging their legs. "This can't be good."

"No guards, though", Azula muttered, drawing her Spica. "I'll break the glass?"

"Yeah", Lin turned off his bracer and pulled out his handgun. "Promise me one thing though", his heart grew lighter as the joker in him resurfaced. "If something were to happen to me, promise me you won't marry anyone."

Azula turned her face away a little to hide her smile and slight blush. "You're a dummy", she said before she stood up and propelled herself up in the air. She landed on the glass panel as a concussive force of blue flame that enveloped her lower extremities.

The breaking sound of the glass was deafening and Lin leaped down after Azula and he landed behind her a few seconds after. On instinct, they stood back to back with guns ready; they met absolutely no opposition. The warehouse was completely deserted.

"Don't like this", Azula muttered; Lin whispered back as his left hand fingered the handle of his sword. "Me neither."

"Check your scan", Azula ordered. "I'll cover you."

"What do you mean check my scan?" Lin turned to her and frowned. "I just checked it before we got in."

"Well, check it again!"

"I am not going to check again. What if—"

"Why is it so hard to—"

"—there's an inactive battle bots waiting or something and I don't have my gun ready—"

"—just press a few buttons. It's not like I'm asking you to sniff around—"

"—people don't appear out of nowhere!"

"—you, lazy bum!"

They inhaled and breathed out vapor.

"Just check it", Azula barked under her breath, eyes scanning for any movements on her side, finger ready on the trigger of her gun.

"Fine!" Lin grumbled. He tapped her bracer again and the scans till showed no heat signature aside from the clump on the corner of the room; the picture got clearer now they were closer and he counted eight bodies. "It's clear", he turned off his scan and holstered his gun.

"You sure?" Azula asked.

"Of course, I'm not sure", Lin replied sourly as he snapped his sword and held it in a ready stance. "We're in a hostile territory. Keep your gun ready. There might be battle bots."

"Battle bots?" Azula snickered as she walked backward after Lin. "You watched too much movies."

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Western Shore, Western Earth Base – Command Center, Spring, Five Years Ago… after the battlement was taken…)_

"I assure you, I did not, General", Lin replied with gritting teeth; he hated it when the old fogeys belittled him on account of his age. He had been a soldier for two years had given them no reason to doubt his ability. But, still…

"Battle robots?" the hologram of the old general cackled; most of the other generals at the table hid their smirk and only a handful kept their faces straight. Lin thought he should count himself lucky that Grand General Iroh and General Jiang were among the latter group. "You are dreaming, boy! Production of robots for warfare is against the Hongmen Convention. Even the Earth Kingdom savages will not stoop so low."

"We saw the schematics, General Wu Chao", Lin argued again. "We saw the design—"

"And where is the proof, hmm?" the muscular mustached general interrupted Lin's speech. "Where is the proof? Where is this schematic?"

Lin gritted his teeth. "Fong got away with his copy", Lin almost growled, feeling anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. "And the mainframe of the computer in this base is damaged in the fight."

"Hah!" General Wu Chao slammed his massive hand on the table. "So, you have no proof? You are seeing things, soldier boy."

Lin kept his silence, his fist balled up to a fist as the general continued his belittlement.

"This is the problem of sending kids to the battlefield. They take down one base and think they can do or say anything they like. You have yet to learn your place, boy", Wu Chao sneered.

Bara and Taka, standing behind Lin, leered at each other.

"Then perhaps you could teach me", Lin grinned demonically. "Agni Kai. If you dare…"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Harbor District, Wharf 2034, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 13:23 PM)_

"Hey", Azula slapped his arm, nudging her chin at the large crate in front of them. "They should be around there."

"How can you remember that?" Lin asked incredulously; he himself felt the need to check his scanner again.

"I'm smart", Azula shrugged. She nudged her chin at the crate again, and Lin dashed and climbed up the ten-foot-tall crate soundlessly. Crouching low with his sword ready, Lin nodded at Azula who had taken position behind another crate in front of the one he was on. They counted to three in their heads and besieged the space at the over the crate; Azula spun and aimed his gun at the empty space where Lin jumped down, armed with his sword. "That's odd."

"This place is really empty", Lin turned off his word and stored it back to his waist. He walked towards Azula and his third step creaked on the floor; stone floor is not supposed to creak. He froze and slowly gestured Azula to stop, bringing one finger to his lips, he gestured with his other hand the floor beneath his feet. Azula nodded and pointed her gun at it while Lin checked his scanner for confirmation. He nodded at Azula, who nodded back and assumed a firmer stance with her gun, and Lin moved away to find a crowbar.

Crowbar in a warehouse was easy to find; Lin jammed the flat end in the crack between the stones and pushed down the shaft strugglingly. He turned to Azula who looked back at him innocently. "Um… go, dummy?"

"Aren't you going to help?" Lin asked, feeling his arms burning.

"You'd asked a girl to do a man's job. Tsk,tsk,tsk…" Azula smirked.

Grumbling something incomprehensible, Lin pushed harder and, as the stone slab jutted out, he grabbed it with his fingers and abandoned his crowbar. He pulled the heavy stone slab up and Azula hissed at him warningly. "Quietly", she felt apprehensive of the sound of the stone gritting on the thick wooden trapdoor below it echoed in the empty warehouse.

Lin pulled the stone to a vertical position and, in his effort to turn it over, dropped it with a loud crash. Azula threw her arms in the air in exasperation.

"Don't judge", Lin warned, pulling out his gun. "Can I shoot this?" he pointed at the padlock fixed on the trapdoor.

"No", Azula took aim.

"But, you broke the skylight", Lin protested. "It's my turn to break stuff."

"Yeah, but—", all of a sudden, Azula tensed up and aimed her gun at someone or something behind Lin; the vigilante turned on his heel and aimed his gun at… nothing. The whistling of plasma bolt and the sharp metallic sound told Lin Azula had shot the padlock.

"Ha ha~" Azula sneered; Lin narrowed his eyes at her as she crouched down and removed the broken padlock. "There you go. You get to open the door."

"Cheater", Lin muttered. He opened the trapdoor and was not ready to see what he found.

He never would… never had…

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Eastern Provinces - the Industrial Town of Hagane – Earth Kingdom Army Barrack, Winter, Four Years Ago…)_

Lin had never felt so sick before… how could they did this to their own—

…and the fact that the darkness in him boiled… coiling and squirming like a viper-bat, the flush of ice in his chest, the cold fury in the pit of his stomach…

…the brief flush full of grief across his groin…

"Lin", Bara stepped in front of him, thanked be Agni, and blocked his view. "Lin… come on. We'll take care of them."

It was nothing a fourteen-year-old should witness.

"Take care of them", he ordered, breathing out heavily, taking his eyes off of them; his knees felt faint. "They've suffered enough."

"I know", Bara nodded at a dark-haired woman a few years younger than her whose skin was ivory and eyes bright emerald. "Rain, go."

The woman fixed her heavy crossbow on her back and signaled several men and women to enter the room and they quickly moved to find covered for those naked girls with broken soul.

"We'll take care of them", Bara said to Lin as she inspected the work of the combat medics on those poor women. "Don't worry— LIN!" she dashed after the boy.

Lin ran past the soldiers and officers who were congratulating him, fueled only by pure rage. Pure rage that wanted to hurt… pure rage that wanted to destroy…

Pure rage that wanted to make people suffer… to kill…

He rammed through Taka who, as the latter approached the main door, grinned and greeted friendlily, and dashed to the snow-covered town square where the prisoners of war were being processed. Roaring, shocking soldiers and prisoners alike, he pulled out his sword and lashed out at the Major of Hagane.

The old fat pathetic man shrieked and fell to the ground, holding his hands above his head, shivering and fearing for his life; Lin's sword clanked loudly with Lu Ten's battle rod, sending sparks and carving a gash on Lu Ten's study weapon.

"Lin, stop this!" the older boy warned.

"They deserve to die!" Lin screamed.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Harbor District - Wharf 2034, Summer, Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 13:32PM)_

"You did well today", Azula approached him in the shadow where he watched the policemen, led by Sergeant Jee, processed those girls into a series of ambulances and police cruisers.

Lin turned to the girl, his face hidden by the hood; Azula knew he was troubled. Azula was a woman of science and she was not really good when it comes to the matter of the heart, but she could always tell when Lin was troubled.

Wordlessly, Lin took Azula's hand and simply let himself melt into the softness of her skin. Azula grasped his hand a little and stepped closer to him. "Are you alright?"

Lin gave a small smile. "I am now", he leaned down and slowly and passionately kissed the girl on the lips.

"You know", Azula smiled as they broke the kiss, still keeping close enough with Lin leaning down on the shorter girl and Azula looking up, their lips brushing a little and breath mingling. "Jee can handle this on his own", the dainty fingers of her free hand traced along the engraving on Lin's breastplate. "Maybe we can go somewhere?"

"Well", Lin felt a rush of happiness fill his being once more and he thanked Agni for it. "I am feeling a bit peckish."

"Shinrin?" Azula asked, smiling.

"No, I'm in the mood for some street food", Lin brushed his nose on hers.

"Uncle Jak's?" Azula purred. "He's not open yet", she pressed her forehead on Lin's mouth and felt the boy breathing in her hair as she checked her wristwatch. "He's not open for another thirty minutes."

"Well", Lin smirked as Azula looked into his eyes once more, tips of their noses touching. "We'll just have to find something to do in the meantime, then."

Azula smirked back and, hand-in-hand, they trotted back to the backseat of Azula's car for some hot make-out session.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 03:40 PM)_

The sleek dark-red speeder-car hovered through the gate smoothly. It stopped and Azula and Lin got out from it. Giggling like school kids in love, the two of them staggered towards each other where Azula failed to push Lin away and dashed away towards the door before Lin could tickle her.

Lin smiled at her. Walking with more grace after the girl, with the hood of his garb down and his robe draping on one arm, he picked a strip of honey-glazed komodo-chicken strip from the paper pouch he held in his hand. Azula smirked at him as she bit her chicken-strip, leaning on the beam of the porch. Lin feigned an attack and the girl yelped and hid behind the beam. Her head poked out and she smirked with a chicken strip bit in her mouth.

Chewing the meat in his mouth, Lin approached the front door and it automatically swung open for him. Azula dashed past him, petite as she was, and slipped between him and the door. Smirking, the lieutenant tiptoed and pecked Lin on the mouth before running in. Lin snickered and chased after her to the kitchen.

Azula shrieked and laughed as Lin grabbed her when she was skulking in his fridge. "Stooop!" she whined, struggling in Lin's arm; the latter was tickling her waist mercilessly. "I'm going to spill this!"

Grinning, Lin draped his robe on the backrest of the nearby chair, putting his pouch of komodo-chicken strip on the table; he noticed Azula's was on the table as well and the content was much less than his. Azula had kept making him feed her as she drove them here.

Azula soon joined him at the table with two glasses of fruit punch. She sat and stretched her arms and legs. Half-sighing, half-yawning, she picked her last strip of chicken and ate it; Lin watched the girl ate with a smile on his face. She looked adorable when she ate.

Azula reached out for more strips but her finger found nothing. She picked up her pouch and tipped it onto her hand; a small piece of chicken strip fell onto her hand and she popped it into her mouth. Chewing, she peeked into the now empty pouch and childishly she shook it onto the table as if trying to get more to come out. Lin quickly looked away but was unable to hold his snicker.

Picking up his glass, he noticed Azula staring at his chicken strips longingly. Chuckling, Lin picked a strip and pushed the rest to the girl's direction. Azula claimed the snack gleefully. Getting up, Lin picked his robe and, pecking the top of Azula's head, walked to his room on the second floor to store his robe and equipment and changed into a more comfortable outfit.

Lin, in the bathroom in his bedroom, turned on the faucet of his sink and washed his greasy hand…

…_it was snowing and extremely cold but he poured water on his hands to wash the blood away…_

…he washed and washed, rubbed and rubbed…

…_but, it just would not go away, stain of red in such stark contrast with the pure white snow below his feet…_

…he washed and washed harder, rubbed and rubbed faster…

…_red, dark red… bright where it smeared and dark where it pooled… oozing from the orange scarlet of the prisoners' uniform… oozing into the pure white snow below…_

_Lu Ten roughly seized his collar and pulled him to his feet…_

"Hey, I'm going to take a nap, okay?" Azula's tired voice made him jump; the sound of the water cascading down his hands sounded so loud and it echoed in his ears. He turned to the Princess who was biting a strip of meat between her teeth and dangling into the bathroom, holding onto the doorframe with one hand, swinging. One look at Lin's face and Azula stopped swinging. She stood straighter and stepped into bathroom. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking the strip off her mouth and wiped Lin's sweaty face. "You're sweating."

"I'm fine", Lin smiled weakly.

"You're pale", Azula pointed out, tiptoeing to chain her arms around Lin's neck; she was shorter than Lin and standing normally, her forehead reached up to Lin's collarbone.

"I'm fine", Lin said, pressing his mouth on the girl's smooth forehead, holding her on the waist.

"_You're lying",_ Azula nearly said. "Are you sure", she asked instead.

"Yeah, I'm fine", Lin sighed, leaning down and pressing his forehead on Azula's. "I think I'm tired too", he said. "I guess I'll take a nap as well."

"Well", Azula fed the rest of her komodo-chicken strip to Lin. "Come on, then", she smirked as she stepped backward and dragged Lin by the wrist out of the bathroom. The girl dragged the boy to the bed and sat him down. Smirking, Azula pushed him down gently and tugged him into the cover. She kissed his cheek and slid away. Lying on his side on the left side of the bed, Lin saw her tapping away to the bathroom with a towel and one of his t-shirts. The door closed and he heard the drizzle of water of the shower…

…_whirring of the tanks anti-gravity system as they hovered by. Fourteen-year-old and he was already tired of all of this. Lu Ten walked up to him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "At least we're going back soon."_

The bed rocked as Azula climbed up, wearing her hair in ponytail and clad in an oversized t-shirt and her panties. She lay down and smiled a bit at Lin. "Turn around", she ordered.

Lin complied and turned his back on her. Azula squirmed closer and pressed herself to his broad back, resting her head on the side of his, kissing his ear before resting her cheek on the side of his face. "You know", Azula started. "It always makes me feel better when you hold me like this", she said, hugging Lin's neck, one hand gripping the shoulder of his shirt and the other rubbing his chest. "Feel better?"

"Yeah", Lin sighed, squeezing the girl's arms.

"Oh, good", Azula let go; Lin chuckled and turned to her. "What? You're big", she said as Lin held her by the waist. "My arms were stretched too much."

Lin snickered and pecked her forehead.

"So", Azula cleared her throat, squirmed closer for a more comfortable position, wrapping one leg over the boy. "Dinner tonight?"

"Still on", Lin said, making a panicky mental note to text Biao about it.

"Where are we going?" Azula asked, yawning.

"Secret", Lin grinned as Azula's half-lidded eyes blinked weakly.

"It's unusual for you to be romantic", Azula muttered as she snuggled onto Lin's chest.

"Yeah, you're not exactly Miss Romance, either; you got me a silver crusted spoon for my birthday", Lin snickered, stroking her hair a little.

"It's part of the set. Remember the fruit knife?" Azula yawned. "There's still the fork, the steak knife, salad fork, chopsticks…"

Lin snickered. "Night, Princess", he pecked the top of her head.

"Night, dummy", Azula muttered softly, already drifting into sleep.

Lin closed his eyes and slept fairly well…

* * *

…until a strong hand shook him awake.

"Get up!" Taka shouted, skulking low over the explosion that occurred too close for comfort.

Groaning, Lin grabbed the sniper's hand and let him pull him up to his feet. Regulating his breath over his throbbing head, Lin raised his sword and was surprise to see his bloody hand and fingers around the hilt of the sword.

_(Earth Kingdom, Warfront on Eastern Provinces - the Industrial Town of Hagane – Earth Kingdom Army Barrack, Winter, Four Years Ago… two days before the city fell…)_

Lin felt his free arm tugged by the sniper and draped over the latter's shoulder. Taka half-carried, half-dragged him away from the spot where the bombardment of Earth Kingdom cannons followed their steps, looming ever closer. A shot falling four meters behind them sent them flying to the snow-covered ground. Lin barely saw Taka's slim frame hitting a tree before he himself was thrown to the ground and rolled off the hill to the creak ten meters below.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 03:53 PM)_

Lin gasped sharply as the falling sensation kicked him to life. His breath escaping the constriction in his throat nearly choked him. His heart was thumping wildly and his breath was out of control. Two seconds his system grew wild and an additional three he took to regain control; five seconds of hell.

He lay on his back with strained breathing.

…_painful breathing… the winter air was so thin his nose and throat felt strained and each breath was a struggle…_

Azula grunted in her sleep softly and suddenly Lin was aware of the flowery scent and the warmth and the weight of her leg draping on his front. He turned to the sleeping girl and sighed a relief.

…he was home…

Azula squirmed closer into his arms; her arms were folded in front of her and her fingers curled up slightly, close to her mouth. Lin felt himself smiling as he reached to her face and pushed the flock of her hair off of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She looked adorable when she was asleep.

Lin leaned in and kissed the top of her head. He stayed there for a moment, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. He slid his lips lower and kissed her forehead. He parked his lips there, enjoying the softness of her skin. The warmth of her skin…

…_cold and dry… blue, pale blue… and the blood vessels drying out and dying down… he looked dead… he was dead…_

It did not feel so hard. It did not feel so bad…

Azula made it easier.

Lin kissed her one more time and extracted his arm from under the girl's head. Azula grunted and Lin slowed down his descend from the bed. Gingerly, he stepped down and stretched. Landing a simple kiss on the girl's cheek, Lin got out from the room with his cellphone. He walked down to the kitchen and saw the two empty glasses of fruit punch on the kitchen counter table.

Chuckling, Lin took one of the glasses to the sink and refilled the other one with a pitcher of red colored fruit punch he got from his fridge. Taking a sip, he sat down and dialed a number from his received call.

"Hi, Yue?"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 05:15 PM)_

Azula was muttering something incomprehensible as she stepped out of Lin's embrace sleepily; Lin chuckled as he grabbed the girl from behind and gave her a little squeeze. "We're going in forty five minutes, okay", he whispered, savoring the very presence of the girl in his arm.

Azula mumbled something and released herself, rubbing her sleepy eye as she exited the room. Biao appeared at the doorstep after Azula had turned to the other side and waited until Azula entered her room and her door closed with a soft thud before she turned to Lin with a sharp look on her face.

"Don't give me that", Lin snapped a little, beating away the awkwardness.

Biao entered and looked at her cousin with a sharp stare that reminded Lin of their grandmother. "Did you guys…?"

"Of course not!" Lin huffed, feeling hit around the collar. "Are you insane? She's a cop."

"And fourteen", Biao added severely.

"I know that", Lin tried to evade but Biao grabbed his upper arms and held him in place. The subject of Azula's age was a massive blow for him.

"Lin, she just came out of your room, wearing nothing but one of your t-shirts!" Biao barked. Azula entering the room in hurried steps halted her scolding. The cousins watched the young lieutenant moved to Lin's nightstand where she usually kept her firearm and took out her Spica. The Princess checked the chamber for a bullet and turned off the safety. As she was about to turn to the door, she noticed Biao's presence.

"Hello", she greeted with neutral tone and face.

Lin and Biao turned to each other dumbfounded and, realizing how close they were, stepped away from each other. But, Azula did not seem to care as she exited the room with her gun held at ready.

Like Lin, Biao was aware of Azula's quirks and chose to ignore her. Turning once more to her cousin, she said sternly. "Promise me nothing happened between you two."

"Of course nothing happened between us", Lin snapped, feeling the heat spreading all over his face.

A loud screaming of women broke the two cousins' confrontation. Quickly, they ran out to Azula's room down the hall. There, two young women were skulking in the corner of the room, screaming and shielding their heads with their arms. Azula was holding a gun to them.

"There're intruders in your house", Azula informed, cocking back her gun hammer.

"No, there are not!" Biao strode in. "They're makeup artist and hairstylist I called here for you for your big date!"

"Why would I need—", Azula began, frowning, but Biao advanced on her with arms on her hips. She looked like an angry mother.

"Give me that!" she demanded, holding out her hand.

"But… it's mine…" Azula pulled her gun closer to her possessively.

Biao flapped her fingers, staring sternly.

"Um… disarming a police officer is a crime…"

"Azula, now…"

"Ng…"

"_Now_, young lady!"

Azula made a face, reluctantly turned the safety of her gun on; she looked at Biao with those puppy-dog eyes of her but the older girl had firm heart. Biao snatched the gun and shoved it into the wide sleeve of her robe. Turning to the scared women, she approached apologetically. "I am so sorry for this", she bowed a little as the women got to their feet. "She's a cop. She just woke up; she had a major bust today, drug dealer and human trafficker at the same day. So, she's a bit… you know."

The two strangers glanced fearfully at Azula. Biao glared openly at her.

"Go and freshen up now!" Biao ordered. "And then come back here let them pretty you up and you are going to wear that dress!" she pointed at the red dress she had put on the bed

"But, my—"

"Now!" Biao barked, pointing at the bathroom door. Azula shrunk and took small steps to the bathroom. She turned a bit to Biao who glared back at her, making her squeak and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Apologizing once more to the two women, Biao exited the room and followed Lin to his.

"You should get married", Lin told his twenty-four-year-old cousin. Biao balked. "You'd make a great mom."

"Have you been talking to my parents?" she accused.

"Aunt Bing sort of called me", Lin confessed, leering to the door, rehearsing his escape maneuver in his mind. "She asked me to give you the day off this Friday. She set up a blind date for you. Oh, and, uh…" Lin shifted his feet. "I said yes."

He dodged the fireball Biao threw to his direction and made a run for it.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 06:01 PM)_

"Just—"

"Would you stop that?!"

"Just hold still and—"

"Stop—", Lin slapped his cousin's hands away from his summer robe but Biao persisted; they ended up slapping each other's hands like little girls fighting.

Azula arrived at the stairs and cleared her throat loudly; two pair of amber eyes went wide at the stunning sight of her.

Her naturally straight raven hair had two thin braids at the sides that were tied back into a tail, still keeping her usual twin flocks of hair framing the sides of her face, while the rest of the hair fell free, cascading her back. The makeup artist had applied thin layer red on her lips and subtle makeup that complemented her skin tone and complexion.

Her silk wrap dress fitted her well while keeping it modest, her sleeves detached and wide and long at the hem, and the skirt ended a little before her knees. She wore a simple charm bracelet with small twelve zodiac animals dangling around it and a small amber centerpiece; Lin gave her that years ago.

She smiled back at Biao, who gushed openly, and descended the stairs.

At the fifth step, she nearly tripped but grabbed the railing in time. Biao and Lin winced at the ruined moment. Biao quickly ran up to the younger girl and helped her up with the heels. Azula sat down on the steps and engaged in a whispering debate with Biao. They nodded at each other while whispering and Biao got up quickly and ran up upstairs. She came back later with a pair flat sandals that looked similar to the high-heeled version Azula was currently taking off and a small purse Azula had apparently forgotten. As Biao helped Azula put on the new shoes, they were arguing again; Lin caught Biao hissing something about '_ridiculous'_ and '_weird'_ and Azula countered with something about '_regulation'_ and '_protection'_ which got to Biao since she exasperated and hissed louder. "You're going out with a former soldier! Why would you need a gun for protection?!"

"There's still the regulation", Azula scowled.

"You're just going to a dinner!" Biao snapped. "Give it here!"

Grumbling, Azula reluctantly fished her Spica out of her purse and handed it over. Still pouting, she let the older girl help her up and they walked down to the waiting Lin.

"Wow", Lin started, taking Azula's hand. "You look amazing."

"Thanks", the girl replied, managing a small smile.

"Alright", Biao chirped up, holding the other two by the arms and dragging them out. "I've prepared a car, your reservation waits, have fun", she stopped suddenly, her smile melting. "But, not too much."

The other two groaned.

"And remember", Biao stopped at the door. "Just…" she made a weird sweeping gesture. "You know… oh, come here, you two."

She scooped the two younger kids into a hug. "You two grew up so fast", she blinked almost tearfully. Lin suspected she raided his booze again.

"Let's go", Lin muttered quick, leading Azula out before Biao did something embarrassing.

At the gate, a driver, who turned out to be Rocky, waited. The silent earthbender opened the door of the speeder-limo for them and they climbed in. Sitting by the girls' side, Lin began undoing his top-knot and retied his hair into a more simple and comfortable ponytail; Azula sighed and slumped back in the seat.

"Close your eyes", she said.

"Why?" Lin asked curiously, not really wanting to keep his eyes off of the creamy white thigh of her that peeked out of the side slit of her skirt.

"Just do it", Azula narrowed her eyes somewhat. Lin closed his eyes and nothing happened. After a few seconds, Azula spoke. "Okay. You can open them now."

Lin opened his eyes and saw Azula checking her Spica revolver. "Where did you hide it?"

"Inside my dress", Azula fixed the revolver chamber back into place and stored her gun in her purse. "Your cousin is bossy and she can be mean sometimes."

"That's her charm", Lin said lightly. Azula snorted.

They arrived at the fancy restaurant, _Amber Spoon, _and were promptly whisked away to a private table on the second floor balcony overlooking the main area on the first floor. Food was served and they enjoyed themselves. In the middle of waiting for desert, Lin finally reminded himself that Azula was a Princess. It was not easy seeing her as such in daily life; you wouldn't think a Princess would put her feet up on the coffee table or stuffed her mouth with fries and talked at the same time or had such high interest towards firearms and excessive violence. Yet, Azula had carried herself with the proper decorum like a Princess she really was despite the gun she kept in her purse.

Lin chuckled at the thought.

Azula quirked her brows and could not help but smile along. "What?" she asked, picking up her glass of cider.

"Nothing", Lin cleared his throat and sat straighter. "I just realize something."

"What?" Azula asked, holding her glass.

"You're beautiful", Lin said softly.

For a moment, nothing was heard but the soft music from the main area. Azula shrugged slightly and took a sip; Lin chuckled again. Some _real_ part of her persisted even when she was all fancied up. He found that endearing.

"_You should marry her",_ Biao had said to him.

_bzzt… bzzt…_

"Oh, it's me", Azula reached for her phone in her purse and grimaced a bit at the caller's ID. "It's Zuko. I gotta take this."

Lin picked up his glass as Azula got up and walked to the bathroom. Lin leaned back on his chair, sighing. He looked down to the balcony where people were dining. Round tables with dark red tablecloths _(…long wooden tables, rough and simple, lined with condiments in dirty bottles…)_ and dark wooden chair with matching red padding _(…flat simple wooden long bench they had to step over when they want to sit…)_, people of in semi-formal to formal wear _(…uniform of red and dark, armor and garb and helmet and hats…)_. Laughing _(…for their hearts were heavy and if they did not they would cry…)_, talking _(…to catch up, to get to know each other… brothers- and sisters-in-arms, one and all…)_, eating _(…surviving…)_, drinking _(…surviving…)_…

So many people… dining…

Lin took a gulp, not a sip, of his cider. His heart was beating fast as… _the Earth Kingdom bombardment took down half of the mess tent; five people he knew died instantly, buried under the rubble of wood, dirt, canvas, and blood._

He used to be careful, more careful. He was a noble born, son of a famed general, heir to a prominent family.

He had to be careful.

But, without even checking if anyone was watching, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small hip flask, silver and embossed with the crest of his clan. He took a small gulp and drowned nearly half the content of Air Nomad fruit wine in one go. Capping the flask back and storing it back into his robe, he felt the substance failed to work. His heartbeat rose and he could feel the organ thumping so hard he was sure the front of his garb twitched.

A waitress approached their table with their slice of cherry cake and, noticing Lin's sweaty forehead and pale face, his general display of discomfort, asked if Lin was alright.

"I'm fine, thank you", Lin managed a weak smile.

"Are you sure, sir?" the waitress asked again with all the best intention. "You look—"

"I said I'm fine!" Lin unexpectedly snapped. The waitress stunned face matched his, he knew. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm fine."

"Of course, sir", the waitress smiled professionally and left the table with the maximum polite speed.

Sighing, Lin looked down on the table, the deep red cloth… _stained with deeper red of blood as he picked up Sang Min, his bodyguard, the former Yu Yan. The man screamed as part of his hand did not get up with him. _

Lin squeezed his eyes hard, his head was hurting him. The sound _(…the noise…)_ kept playing in his head _(…with his head…)_ like a bad song from the cheesy ad on TV _(…dirty marching song the soldiers sang in the tavern…)_.

_bzzt… bzzt…_

Lin grabbed his left wrist; his bracelet buzzed. He tapped the surface and turned it off. Fire Nation would have to do without… him (maybe Zhang Wu had a point about this vigilante name thing) for the night.

He looked up and right there, across the room, she walked towards him. _Dear Agni_, Lin felt his lips parted, himself sighing. _She is beautiful_. The way her creamy white skin contrasted the bright red of her dress, the way part of her upper arm peeked from the part where her sleeves detached from her shoulder, the golden laces of her shoes coiling up to her shins. Her eyes, her lips, her hair, her every feature…

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Fire Nation Military Airport, Winter, Day 22, Month 12, 01:43 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

"I'm telling you, man", Lu Ten started as he and Lin walked down the ramp of the starship that carried them with the other officers. "This new one will be so much better."

"You said the same about that movie about hog-monkeys ruling the Earth Kingdom", Lin voiced his skepticism as the stepped back to the ground, shifting his bag to the other shoulder.

"Yeah, but this is Star Wars, man!" Lu Ten grinned. "There'll be lightsabers!"

"I do like things that can cut other things", Lin pondered aloud. "Hey, are those your cousins?"

They turned to watch the two kids waiting for them at the side of a sleek and fancy speeder-limo with tiny Fire Nation flags at the right and left edges of the hood; the ones with gold insignia, dark base, and red trim, the kind only used by the Royal Family.

A ponytailed boy with a huge grin on his face and a small girl with raven hair tied in a boyish top-knot with two flocks of hair framing the sides of her scowling face. The boy waved and called for Lu Ten's name. Lu Ten laughed and waved back, and, as soon as he said his hasty goodbye to Lin, started running towards them. Smiling faintly, Lin followed his steps with more patience towards another car, an old beat up speeder-car that might have been produced when Fire Lord Azulon was a teenager.

Fire Nation winter felt warmer and more alive than the dead cold snowy winter of Earth Kingdom.

When he arrived by the old rickety car, Lu Ten was in the middle of picking the girl up under her arm like she was a little kid and threw her up in the air and caught her in his bear hug. There was flash of blue light and Lu Ten crumpled to the ground, dragging the girl that was much smaller with him. The girl got up as if nothing happened, patting her hair to tidy them up. She seemed to have noticed that they were being watched since she turned to Lin unexpectedly and, even from far away, Lin noticed her bright amber eyes. He waved weakly but the girl just stared at him briefly before she returned her attention to Lu Ten, who was twitching on the ground, and poked the boy with her foot. Feeling awkward a little, Lin climbed into the rickety car and the last thing he heard before he shut the car door closed was the whirring sound of airship machine and Lu Ten screaming. "When did you start learning Lightning?!"

Inside the car, Lin threw his bag in the backseat and clipped in his seatbelt. Zhang Wu shoved a lunchbox filled with hard-boiled eggs, cut in half, and topped with diced tomato, mustard, and wasabi. Lin took it and he had never tasted anything more delicious.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 22, Month 12, 02:30 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

Biao burst into tears as she ran to embrace him, wrinkling his uniform. Laughing and hiccupping tearfully, Biao tried to tidy up his long coat but Lin simply took it off. Upon the front door of the manor, they stood. Lin's fingerless-gloved hand touched the door handle and the security system recognized his print. He pushed the door open and breathed in the musty air whiffing out from inside the manor.

He took the first step in. He stopped.

Biao placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and noticed him shuddering.

"She died peacefully", Biao whispered, her hand finding the boy's. "Come on", he pulled the boy inside. "Let's get you settled down."

They walked inside past the living room and dining hall where the furniture were all covered by plastic and cloths; Zhang Wu followed them in and stayed at the living room; he pulled off the covering on the couch and coughed as a couple of years' worth of dust offended his breathing.

Lin and Biao ascended the stairs and walked to the master bedroom. The room looked unlived but clean. Lin paid no attention to the furniture, potted plants and other stuff, save for the large bed and the small long desk at the foot of it where a two level sword pedestal stood. The upper pedestal held a straight black jian with golden dragon engraving and the lower one hosted a green jade flute with red tassel.

Lin walked to it, feeling like he was in a daze. His fingers grazed the surprisingly warm jade flute and he picked up the sword next.

"You know", Biao called after awhile. "We kept your room in the estate just the way you left it."

Lin did not say a word. He pulled the sword free a little, noticing how long the handle was compared to the blade. "I'm staying here from now on", he muttered.

Biao chuckled. "Good thing I have your stuff moved to the basement then."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 28, Month 12, 10:30 AM, Four Years Ago…)_

"Zuko?" Lin frowned as refilled his hand soap dispenser in his bathroom, clenching his cellphone between his ear and shoulder. "Aren't we supposed to take him with us from the beginning?"

"_Yeah",_ Lu Ten sighed on the phone. _"But, my other cousin wanted in too."_

"Oh, the girl from the airbase?" Lin frowned, setting the small tea-pot shaped dispenser down.

"_How do you know my baby cousin's a girl?"_ Lu Ten asked suspiciously.

"Uh… because not knowing that the Royal Family line of Prince Ozai consists of his son, Zuko, and daughter, Azula, in considered unpatriotic for a Fire Nation?" Lin drawled. "Are you sure you're a Fire Prince?"

"_Oh… right. I keep forgetting that_", Lu Ten cleared his throat. "_Well, anyway, we've just passed through Rose Street. We'll arrive in fifteen minutes tops."_

"Gotcha", Lin washed his hand and dried it with firebending. He held the phone in his hand and exited the bathroom and entered the bedroom that resembled little of what it used to be. He had fitted in a bath cubicle and dedicated a corner of the room for training purposes, he had fitted in technology, repainted the room, and expanded his grandmother's library. He knew his grandmother would be horrified by the change; Umma had always preferred simple and traditional things and ways of life but Lin just had to do it. The memory was too much.

Biao had been horrified herself when she visited two days ago and found the workers taking out a layer of tiles of the room floor to fix in the training mattresses. Lin had to appease her by distracting her with his plan to redecorate and refurnish and asking her to handle it; Biao's ongoing study in the interior design would finally be of some use.

"_Oh, by the way, there's something you should know",_ Lu Ten called and Lin could hear the sound of honking; he had experienced being in the same tank as Lu Ten when the latter was driving and could pretty much guess what was going on. _"It's about…"_ his sound dropped to a whisper. _"…It's about Azula."_

"Okay…" Lin drawled, his mind flying to the girl whom he had seen at the airbase the day he and Lu Ten got home. He had heard the name often in his conversation with Lu Ten, or when he was listening to one of the Prince's phone call home, and from several news and magazines from home –Lu Ten once proudly presented the copy of _SMART Magazine_ to the mess tent where they did a feature on the prodigious Fire Princess who completed her Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science at the age of nine. But, like many denizens of the Fire Nation, they had never seen the faces of their Royals aside from the men and women actively serving the country in the military and politics; so, only Fire Lord Azulon and his two sons.

It was a centuries-long practice to avoid favoritism. Lu Ten had not achieved a high enough rank and still lived in relative anonymity. Zuko and Azula were young and, according to Lu Ten, their father had deemed them not ready to have their faces appear in the media yet.

"_Well, you see"._ Lu Ten continued in whisper and paused a little. _"My baby cousin is ten."_

"…Okay?" Lin drawled again, not knowing why this was so important to Lu Ten.

"_Well, when a girl turns ten… apparently, they start…"_ Lu Ten cleared his throat awkwardly; Lin felt more and more lost. _"Just… just don't comment about her chest, okay? I learnt that the hard way. Besides, you can barely see the difference."_

"…I'm sorry, _what_?"

"_Well, she's a growing kid and— Ouch! Azula! I'm driv— OW!"_

—click—

"…what…?!"

Twenty minutes later, Lin found himself walking to the front door where his new maid robot was opening the door. Lu Ten stood in the middle with a red handprint on his forehead and disheveled hair. Zuko grinned at his side at the sight of Lin and the girl, Azula, whom Lin had not properly met, was scowling with her arms crossed on her chest.

"Come in", Lin offered, stepping back to allow the three royals entry.

"Oh, nice", Lu Ten grinned, leaning down to inspect the midsection of the maid robot. "The newest MR-2000 model", he stood up and puffed his chest, and assumed what he once dubbed 'the gentlemen speak'. "May I be directed to the nearest bathroom perchance? I seem to have found myself a victim of a preadolescent baby cousin of mine; the cranky looking girl over there."

Azula growled and let her arms down. Lu Ten yelped and jumped behind Lin. His head poked up from behind Lin's shoulder and he made a funny face at Azula. Lin extended his hand to the girl. "Tag?"

Azula slapped his palm and Lin brought the palm up to where Lu Ten's forehead was. "Stop fooling around", he said sternly to the older Prince. "We're going to be late."

"Thou art rudeth", Lu Ten resumed with his 'gentlemen speak'.

"Thou art a lieutenant", Lin jabbed back; Lu Ten bristled. "Go doth thine business. Such is the command of thine superior."

"Kids", Lu Ten grumbled as he turned and followed the maid robot to the bathroom.

Snickering, Lin was left entertaining the guest, mainly Zuko who seemed very interested in his life in the Army; Azula simply slouched in the couch, playing with her cellphone. Lin found himself leering to her direction every now and then, unsure what to make of her. She said nothing the whole five minutes, not even looking his way or looking around, lost in her own world.

"Ready?" Lu Ten appeared with tidier hair and fresher face. They got up and got out after Lu Ten bid an unnecessarily polite goodbye to the maid robot. Zuko practically skipped across the pebbled lawn with Azula following closely behind. Lu Ten and Lin lagged behind a few steps away. "Dude", Lu Ten slapped Lin's arm all of a sudden. "Stop staring at my baby cousin!"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Amber Spoon,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 07:18 PM)_

Lin was startled at Azula holding out a bit of cake with the fork to his face. Smiling, Lin opened his mouth and let the girl feed him the cake. "You were daydreaming", Azula said plainly.

Lin smiled. "I was admiring your hair", he said; Azula grunted and made a little face. She took a bite out the cake they shared with a pout.

"I don't like it. It's tickling my back", she groused with that cute pout of hers as she ate the cake.

"You don't always wear open-back dress", Lin argued, smirking.

"I don't like it. It's tickling my neck", she tried another approach.

"You always wear something with collar", Lin chuckled.

Azula grew silent for a bit as the cake melted in her mouth. "I still don't like it", she brought her fork back to the cake.

Lin chuckled again as he reached to his phone and typed a quick text message to Rocky. He looked up when Azula grasped his hand, and he grasped back, and offered him the single cherry on the cake; as romantic a gesture as Lin could get from the Princess. Funny though, since Azula had the, as Lin dubbed it, 'thinky face', like when she was examining a virus-ridden computer or something.

"I can think of one _very_ dirty thing to say right now", Lin teased, quirking his brows at the cherry; Azula smirked and slammed their joined hands on the table lightly, her bracelet clinked as she did so.

"Dummy", she muttered through her stifled smirk as Lin ate the fruit.

They finished up in no hurry at all and left the establishment at eight, according to Lin's wristwatch. Azula shuddered a little and glomped onto Lin's arm. Lin tried to read her face as she looked up to the clear evening sky above. "You had fun tonight?"

"Mm-hmm", Azula smiled at him.

"Enjoyed the food?" Lin asked with a grin. Azula whimpered and slumped her forehead on his upper arm. "No", she sulked. Chuckling, Lin reposition himself and embraced her tightly, his hand rubbed her bare back a little.

"I knew you'd say that", he said as a speeder-sedan approached and Taka got out, throwing the key to Lin. "Come on", Lin took Azula's hand and led her to the passenger's side. Winking his thanks at Taka, he rounded the front of the car and entered the driver's seat.

"Can I drive?" Azula pouted inside the car.

"Nope", Lin answered quickly as he started the engine.

Thirty minutes of ride later, they found themselves in the Sundisk Garden District, directly beneath the hill where the famed golden sundisk overlooked the ocean. It was a beachside hawker corner where numerous stalls and carts sold their wares, mostly grilled food the Fire Nation was so famed of.

Azula sat on a bench, digging her toes in the sand and holding her hair against the wind that flew from her east, carrying the whiff of grilled corn from the nearest stall, the chattering sound of people, and the sound of the waves. Azula looked ahead towards the ocean and breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of the sea. Faraway, on the tall hill at the other end of the u-shaped bay, she could make the faint distant light of the Dragon Pearl Manor. A friendly-looking young man with a bright smile and simple summer clothing of baggy pants and vest approached her and handed her a rose from the bunch of individual roses he had in his arm. Azula took it and muttered a sweet thank you.

Lin arrived shortly after with their order of Uncle Jak's pig-hen burger and fries. Azula smirked as she took the one large soda with two straws from Lin and set it down between them. Keeping her legs closed, fighting the urge to cross them –the split of her skirt made such action impossible-, she leaned sideways on Lin's shoulder and, picking a fries, read the card that came with the flower. Lin noticed her smile and could not help but tease. "Do I have to be jealous?"

Azula snickered and handed him the card. Lin chewed his fries as he read the card that bore a short haiku about the beauty of 'flawed' flower and noticed a beautiful line drawing of a rose with a jagged stem. A short paragraph was written below the haiku, informing him of the Bright Ember Foundation, a famous humanitarian foundation whose aim is to support and improve welfare and acceptance of people with disability of the senses.

Somebody called out 'ooiii!' from the lines of carts and stalls behind them and Lin turned to see Uncle Jak waving at them; Lin waved back and stuffed the fries in his hand into his mouth, leaving one. Turning to Azula as he got up, he grunted urgently; Azula turned to him, frowning at first, and, realizing what he meant, looked up as Lin leaned down and pecked her lips, boh mouths full with fries. He fed the single fries to the girl and walked back to Uncle Jak's stall.

Uncle Jak, the old man whose grin curved evenly above his scraggy beard, handed Lin his change. After exchanging short pleasantry, Lin walked back to Azula and caught her stealing his fries. Snickering he snatched his pack of fries and Azula whined like a little girl. Looking at him with big puppy-dog eyes and lower lip jutting out, she said with her whiny voice. "I only want the small burnt ones", she pouted.

Lin smiled as he fed her a perfectly fried one. Putting his fries down, he picked up his burger and took a bite. He looked into the ocean and, from the corner of his eyes, he watched Azula shifting and then, he felt the weight of her head on his shoulder. He turned to the girl whose face was so close to him, her chin on his shoulder, he could feel her breath on his mouth. Azula picked a piece of lettuce on the corner of the boy's mouth and licked the mayonnaise on his face clean. She returned to her seat and put the piece of vegetable into her mouth, all the while watching Lin as if she was studying him.

"What?" Lin asked, smiling.

"You look weird", Azula said without hesitation. She broke eye contact to pick up her burger and take a bite; as she chewed, her scrutinizing gaze returned to Lin. "Something is bothering you."

"I'm fine", Lin said before he could stop herself; the memory of the startled waitress did not sit right with him. "Nothing's bothering me."

"I don't believe you", Azula purred and then she smirked and resumed eating.

Lin snickered as he continued his own meal, sneaking glances at the girl every now and then. Most girls he knew looked standoffish and stiff, even strange when they are. When Azula ate in a more relaxed setting and environment, Lin could only describe the way her cheeks puffed up with food in her mouth as extremely adorable and irresistibly cute.

Lin was popping the last of his burger into his mouth and reaching for a napkin when his cellphone vibrated. Turning to Azula a little, he fished his cellphone out of his pocket and saw the caller's ID: _Lee, R&D Department_.

Lin made a subtle show of pressing the volume down button.

"Hey, Lee", Lin greeted casually.

"_I found some lead",_ Zuko informed from the other end. "_Gorra ratted out some of his associate. We were wrong; he's just a middleman."_

Lin grunted lightly. "I've told you to be careful with the chemicals", he said; Azula leaned onto him and playfully fed him fries. "Well, just clean it up the best you can. I'll see if I can contact some of my friends in the chemistry department; they may have some solvent that can remove the stain. Take it easy tonight."

"_Got it",_ Zuko replied gruffly. _"I'll see if I can do more from my end. Call me as soon as you get something."_

Lin snapped his phone closed and stored it into his pocket.

"You bring your gun?" Azula asked, drinking the soda with a loud slurp.

"That's an odd question", Lin commented.

Azula shrugged, sitting sideways to face Lin and leaning on her hand. "You're a civilian now. You shouldn't carry weapons with you."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Shinrin Diner, Winter, Day 28, Month 12, 12:13 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

"I can pay for my own."

Lin was a little startled. It was the first time the Princess talked to him directly. Standing a little over the level of Lin's solar plexus, the girl carried herself as one of his equal footing. Lin inclined his head and smiled, retrieving his coins; Azula took out her wallet and paid for her own sandwich. Lin held down a smile at the design of her wallet; pink and shaped like a cat.

Azula did not seem to feel bothered as she accepted her order and brought the tray back to the table were Lu Ten and Zuko were laughing at something Lu Ten had said; the way Lu Ten said quickly without breaking his grin. "Therehecomes, I'lltellyoulater", made Lin think it was him they were talking about.

Narrowing his eyes at the older Prince, Lin sat down with his tray and picked up his spoon; Azula, sitting at his right, slapped his hand. Lin completely did not expect this and turned to her, frowning. The girl held out her hand for him and, when Lin still looked confused, gestured with her fingers. Hesitatingly, Lin turned to Zuko and Lu Ten and saw them looking at him. Feeling a little awkward, Lin took Azula's hand and Lu Ten's and looked down at his delish-looking curry rice; he had not eaten breakfast.

"Dear Agni in heaven above", Lu Ten led the prayer with his funny voice; this time, he sounded like a breathy old preacher. "We pray thee… wait, that's wrong", Zuko giggled, Lin rolled his eyes and he felt Azula's small hand twitch in his. "We bid thee thanks and adoration for these scrumptious comestible and the occasion to feast upon them together. And as I, thine humble servant, have not had my coffee yet, endeth this prayer around here, we shall. Thanks. Amen."

Led by Lu Ten, they dug in. "Hey, Lin", Zuko called energetically. "Do you bring your gun home with you? Can I see it?"

"No", came from both Lu Ten and Zuko.

Zuko grumbled and returned to his fried noodle.

"Do you like tomato?" Lin nearly choked on his rice when Azula asked him this.

"I-I guess", Lin swallowed.

"Want mine?" Azula picked the slices of tomato from her sandwich.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Sundisk Garden District,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 20:16 PM)_

"Finish this for me?" Azula whined, shoving her half-eaten burger. "I'm full."

Snickering, Lin took the burger in the wrapper and, as Azula picked up the fries and soda and scooted closer to him, opened his free arm and let the girl leaned into his arm. Chewing, Lin leaned down the side of his face on top of Azula's head and breathed in the scent of her hair. Azula picked on the remaining fries, nibbling them slowly as she rested her head on Lin's arms and her amber eyes watched the waves, sitting together on the beachside under summer night sky, moon and starlight. And those neon light above the cliff on the garden. And several tall torches on the hawker area.

Still romantic. Lin congratulated himself for nailing this date.

"Aaaa..." Azula said, feeding Lin some fries. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"The time I gave you that bracelet", Lin said, staring at the bracelet dangling on Azula's left wrist. "New Year's gift. Four years ago", he paused a little, testing the water. "Remember?"

Azula did not say anything and Lin could not see her face from this angle. Lin waited her out; it was always the best strategy. According to Lu Ten, it almost always worked. _"Like dealing with a scared kitten"_, Lu Ten once said to Lin as he sat at the doorstep of the room in Lin's manor where Azula was staying, locking herself after she got into an argument with Lu Ten. _"Just wait it out. Preferably with a candy bar in one hand." _

Azula cleared her throat and sat straighter, picking the leftover small fries and nibbled on them without saying a word.

Lin waited her out.

When she was done eating the last crunchy one, she put the pack on the bench and sucked on her salty fingers. She took a sip of soda and, unable to find any more distraction, she finally turned to Lin. They looked at each other, amber met amber. Then, Azula smiled a little; a sad smile.

"It's a…" she cleared her throat a little as she leaned back into Lin's arm. "It's a fancy gift for a little girl you barely knew", Azula commented, lifting her arm little to inspect the bracelet; her right hand gripped the boy's arm wrapping her warmly around the neck while he pressed his mouth on her head behind her left ear.

"It sort of took me by surprise", Lin confessed softly. "I didn't know your parents would suddenly go on a second honeymoon and dumped you kids at my place."

"Actually", Azula giggled. "Lu Ten was supposed to babysit us."

"I knew it, that cheat", Lin playfully hissed. They snickered together and their eyes looked at the bracelet. "That's the first time you say Lu Ten's name out loud in awhile."

"That's the first time you bring him up", Azula countered.

They did not say anything for a few seconds; they simply looked at the bracelet.

"You know", Lin started again, his other hand grasped Azula's free hand and Azula brought that arm around her waist. "That bracelet? It used to be my grandmother."

"Really?" Azula frowned, turning a little. "Oh… sorry. If you want it back—"

"No, no", Lin squeezed her lightly and briefly. "It's yours now. Besides, it looks better on you than on me."

Azula turned her head towards him; Lin released Azula's hand and brushed her hair off of her face before he grabbed her hand again. Azula smiled a little and under the dim light of the torches and faraway lamp, Lin could see a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

He pecked the blush and saw Azula's cheek rise as her smile brightened. Smirking, he brushed his nose on her cheek before kissing her again. And again. And again… again…again… and again until she giggled softly and he snickered along.

"You're a dummy", Azula said, smiling as she grabbed Lin's arm around her neck with both hands; Lin brushed the tip of his nose on hers. "Dummy…" she whispered. "Dummydummydummy… dummy… dummy…"

Lin kissed her gently on the lips; gentle soft kiss that was true in any way.

"We should go back", Azula whispered in between their kiss. "Biao should be worried", she noticed Lin's kiss nipping her lower lip a little. "It should be passed your curfew."

"Really, curfew?" Lin stopped kissing for a little while, narrowing his eyes at the girl's smirk before returning his commitment to the smooching, gradually pushing her down the bench. Grunting, Azula lightly slapped his chest repeatedly.

"PDA", she muttered, sitting up straighter and tidied up her sleeves. "Come on", she said, tugging on Lin's robe sleeve. "Let's go home. I want to sleep."

"As you command, Princess", Lin pecked the girl's lips one last time and held her in a one-armed hug as his free hand checked his cellphone. He pressed his mouth and nose on the girl's warm forehead while Azula drank their soda noisily, peeking on Lin's cellphone screen. Putting the cellphone back in his pocket, Azula shoved the rest of the soda to Lin and the boy drained it all with Azula holding the cup for him.

Together, they walked back to the parking lot hand in hand. On their way out, they made a brief stop at Uncle Jak's stall. The bearded grinning man laughed friendlily at their arrival, commenting on their outfit.

"Fancy restaurant food don't match up to Uncle Jak's, eh?" the bearded potbellied man guessed and laughed. Even Azula smiled as she rested her head on Lin's arm, latching onto him.

And as they were about to leave, Uncle Jak stood up straighter and a ghost of his past as soldier showed behind his potbelly, his dirty white bandana, his faded stained red tank top, and his baggy shorts as he saluted at Lin. Azula let go of Lin's arm as the latter returned the salute.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Shinrin Diner, Winter, Day 28, Month 12, 05:13 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

"That was weird", Zuko told Lin as they entered the diner for their dinner. "I don't get that sci-fi stuff."

Lin snickered as Zuko led them to their table; Lu Ten and Azula was still debating and discussing about the movie they watched.

"I'm telling you, with proper equipment I can replicate the capability to deflect plasma bolt", Lu Ten said, sitting down and ordering two his usual with a little wave at the proprietress. "The Military R&D in Yu Dao has developed some quite sophisticated nanotechnology. I can install numerous nodes that generate deflector shield on the surface of a regular sword or something and hit an incoming plasma bolt like baseball player."

"True, but you are forgetting something", Azula netted her fingers and stretched her arms and legs upward, accidentally kicking Lin under the table. "Sorry", she said to Lin and yawned a little as she turned to Lu Ten. "How would activate it? Buttons require wiring and shield generators require more wiring for power, accelerator, and energy dispenser at least. There will be many wires and if you keep them in the open, your opponent could just cut it with a sword in melee fight. And if you are to keep it in a casing on your hilt, it will be as big as Gramy Ta Min's burrito."

To Lin who frowned at Azula's choice of analogy, Lu Ten explained. "Huge. The size of a komodo-rhino horn."

Lin replied with an acknowledging 'oh' and the two cousins resumed their discussion. Zuko turned to Lin and whispered behind his hand. "You should see them at home. That's what happened when a techno geek and a computer nerd are cousins.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 28, Month 12, 07:45 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

Azula had to admit, she was fascinated by it. The sword. It was unlike any sword she had ever seen. Lu Ten had insisted that she and Zuko learnt additional combat skills. They had both been trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship by numerous masters of the traditional arts; among the names were the famed Jian Wu the Imperial Sword Instructor and Piandao of Shu Jing. Azula owned a pair of swords, a fencing jian and a short sword; Zuko preferred the use of double dao sabers. Still, as Azula picked up the dark sword with golden dragon engravings fitted on the hilt and scabbard, her curiosity piqued.

She pulled the sword free a little and the dragon parted on the neck; the head was on the hilt and the body lingered on the scabbard. The sword was double-bladed jian to Azula's growing curiosity. Swords with handle that long are usually a single bladed sword.

"Azula, come on!" Zuko called from the couch where the three boys were on their game controllers. "Pick a character already."

Azula put the sword back on the pedestal and climbed onto the couch from behind, squeezing herself between Zuko and Lu Ten. Years of knowing Lu Ten and Zuko had pretty much ruined the image of well-behaved and civilized royalty but a _Princess_ climbing a couch? Lin could not help but snicker.

"Okay", Azula picked a random bulky demolition man. Three minutes after their characters spawned, Azula detonated a giant-ass bomb, killing them all while her character hid in a bunker.

"Azula!" Lu Ten and Zuko exclaimed while Lin gaped.

"What?" Azula asked innocently.

"You just killed us! I'm on your team!" Lu Ten protested.

"Fire Nation appreciates your sacrifice", Azula placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder. Smirking, she hopped up and skipped out to her room, humming Star Wars soundtrack.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 17, Month 5, Wednesday, 09:12 PM)_

Azula typed a short message to Ty Lee and, upon receiving quick reply, put her phone on the coffee table and under a stack of magazine. She turned on the TV and lifted her bare legs on the couch, folding them and storing them into the oversized t-shirt she was wearing. The tips of her bare nipples brushing on her thighs tickled her a little and she hugged her legs tighter, squeezing her breasts on them. She felt impatient to get to bed all of a sudden.

Lin exited the bathroom and, to her dismay, he was on the phone _again_. Talking in stern whisper, Lin pecked the top of Azula's head as he walked past the couch and walked around to join the girl in it. Azula, still hugging her legs, in a small bundle, fell to her side, resting on Lin's shoulder. Lin circled his arm around and held the girl softly with his arm around her shoulder. Azula kept her eyes on the nine o'clock news detailing about the arrest of Ruon Jian but kept her ears trained on Lin's conversation. She noticed Lin was using the firm tone of professionalism she had dubbed 'the work tone', the kind of tone that her father and uncle uses when they talk to their colleagues of co-workers regarding their work.

Lin bid the caller goodbye and turned off his phone, tossing it onto the table on top of a pile of important looking paper. Sighing, he pulled Azula closer and his superior height and Azula's legs under her shirt pulling the very wide collar of Lin's shirt that she was wearing outward, allowed the boy such magnificent bird's eye view of her boobs. "Oh, Mother of All Spirits in Heaven…"

"Hmm?" Azula looked up innocently and followed his gaze down to her cleavage. Gasping, she straightened her legs and grabbed her collar. "Pervert!" she scolded but looked a little amused despite her blush. "Pervert! Pervert!" she slapped Lin's chest and arm repeatedly; Lin grinned and caught her struggling wrists and pulled her closer.

"What?" Lin whined, hugging the squirming girl tightly. "I thought you were coming on to me."

"Hmph!" Azula harrumphed, turning her pouty face away. "I'm not talking to you ever again!"

Snickering, Lin lifted her surprisingly lightweight frame to his lap and lay down on his back. Holding on to the girl who was lying on her side on top of him, her smooth beautiful legs bent and her back held tight lest she fell to the floor, Lin let out another sigh as she watched the girl fondly. His free hand found its way to the girl's knee, drawing slow circles with the tip of his finger.

"It's not like I've never seen you naked before", Lin teased.

"Shut up, pervert", Azula grumbled, blushing. Laughing, Lin squeezed her up so he could peck the top of her head and as she ran his hand up and down on her leg, Azula felt electric from his very touch. "Stupid", she muttered again, enjoying his warmth, his embrace, and his touch in that order.

They stayed there, just stayed that way. They enjoyed each other's company and they just stayed there. The news on TV about a tidal wave threat in the Outer Islands did not really go with the mood but they just stayed there.

"Wanna go to the bed now?" Lin asked after awhile; he watched Azula's face as she scratched the front of his shirt lightly with her long-nailed finger and Lin noticed how her eyes blinked weakly. Dear Agni, she was adorable when she was sleepy.

Azula drew in a deep tired breath and exhaled loudly. "Okay", she said. Lin sat up slowly and snuck one arm behind the bent of her legs. She picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bed. He tugged the girl in the thin summer blanket and joined her soon afterwards. Azula was smiling faintly with her back turned on Lin. The boy descended from behind and kissed her cheek as he lay down next to her, hugging her gently around the waist. Shifting for a more comfortable position, one of Azula's feet found his leg and she rubbed it up and down, reveling in their touch. She felt the boy pressing his head on the back of her neck and she turned around, tickled by his bang. They smiled at each other and kissed; a long, patient, and passionate kiss. Smirking, Azula squirmed deeper into his embrace and, safely tugged in his arms, she began to drift to sleep.

"Hey", Lin called.

"Hmm?" Azula sighed, still with a ghost of a smile on her face.

"I have to ask", Lin said, kissing the back of her head before he continued. "Did you really shop for your underwear with my cousin?"

Azula chuckled but did not reply or open her eyes.

"I mean, really?" she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Tell me… what's your size?"

Giggling, Azula opened her eyes and feigned an offended gasp. "Oh, that's it. I'm not sleeping anywhere near you", she said, struggling to get out of the boy's hug to no avail; she was not really trying anyway. "I'm not talking to you ever again!" she declared as she grabbed a pillow and buried her head under it. Lin simply snuck his hand inside her shirt and poked her ticklish waist, making her shriek, and a struggle ensued between the two.

The door of the room was burst open suddenly and loudly, making the two jump. Biao was at the door with wide amber eyes and horrified expression on her face as she witnessed their tussled condition; Lin's messed up ponytail and Azula's shirt pulled down until her the soft creamy skin of her shoulder was exposed and the hem messy and pulled up to expose her boy short panties and generous amount of her naked torso, and their compromising position, seared into her eyes and sent her mind to the gutter.

The next thing they knew, they sat on the side of the bed while the older girl walked back and forth scolding them for being '_irresponsible'_ and for their '_improper conduct'_, and it culminated in her dragging Azula by the wrist to her room. The last thing Lin heard was the echo of Biao's raised voice across the hallway. "—wear nothing but a t-shirt in a boy's room!"

Lin snickered to himself as he closed his door and walked back to his bed. Really, he loved Biao like his own sister but the age gap between them, he assumed, sort of made Biao overprotective of him. And Azula. He knew Biao loved her too; the two of them had gotten close over the years although Lin could not even begin to guess where the two girls started knowing each other. He noticed how motherly Biao could get with Azula.

Sighing, Lin plopped back down onto his pillow. He grabbed the one pillow Azula was using and pressed it onto his face. The leftover scent of Azula's hair calmed him down and it helped him sleep.

Meanwhile, thirty minutes later in Azula's room, the Princess opened her eyes for a fraction. Biao was positively glaring at her. Yelping, the younger girl pulled the blanket over head and slowly peeked from under it.

"Don't act cute with me. It's not going to work", Biao grumbled, crossing her arms.

Azula returned the blanket to its proper position and turned to look at the older girl in the eye.

"And no puppy-dog eyes", Biao growled. "I have fifteen nieces. It's not going to work on me."

Did not stop Azula from pouting though. Biao sighed finally. "You _know_ that what your guys did was wrong, right?"

"We didn't do anything", Azula muttered. "We never did. We just sleep in the same bed. And besides, he never stayed until morning. He always moves to the couch in the middle of the night."

"That doesn't make it right", Biao explained patiently. "You are still a girl", she held her tongue on the subject of the Princess' age. "And Lin—", Biao shrieked as Azula, armed with a pillow, jumped at her.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation Colony of Gaipan - Fire Nation Military Base, autumn, three years ago.)_

"I'm telling you, man", Lu Ten grinned excitedly, like a kid on sugar high. "This is going to work!"

"And I'm telling you: you're delusional and you watch too much sci-fi movie. Do we have to do another intervention?" Lin narrowed his eyes sharply at the lieutenant.

Lu Ten did not seem to notice as he blabbered on, leading their way to the workshop he had turned into his man-cave. Unlocking the padlock, he explained his point for the umpteenth time. "I really did it. Well… at least, I think I did. Anyway, I really did it!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.

He pushed the door open and the light turned on automatically. "I was finally able to fix nano-generators in. Azula came up with a way to manipulate the signal wavelength; so, I fix in fingerprint recognition device on the hilt that will activate the continuous wavelength and embedded receptors on each nodes. So, the nodes will activate individually _at the same time_! That way, we don't need wires and the hilt doesn't have to be as big as Gramy Ta Min's burrito. And, each nodes are powered by the electrical charges sent each time the device is activated; so, no outer power sources. My baby cousin is a genius!"

Lu Ten moved through the clutter of machineries and tools that had turned the once relatively empty workshop into what Lin thought a robot's stomach would be like if robots could get diarrhea. "Oh, really? Hey, how is she doing lately?"

On his way to his masterpiece, Lu Ten froze and whipped his head to Lin, furious. "Why do you ask…?" he drawled threateningly.

"I don't know", Lin shrugged. "I'm curious?"

"Why are so interested with my baby cousin?" Lu Ten asked with a growl.

Lin suddenly found a spark plug lying on a nearby table fascinating. "I don't know", he shrugged, picking the object up, refusing to look at Lu Ten for he could, for some inexplicable reason, felt a weird warmth creeping up his face. "We're… you know… friends?"

"SINCE WHEN?!" Lu Ten roared unexpectedly, startling Lin and making him drop the spark plug.

"Since winter last year. You know, when we hung out together", Lin gulped; suddenly, the three years head start of Lu Ten in life and growth seemed so prominent. "She often called me from home, asking about stuff…"

"WHAT STUFF?!" Lu Ten demanded.

"Well…" Lin felt more and more uncomfortable.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 29, Month 12, 07:12 AM, Four Years Ago…)_

"You don't have to answer it if you're uncomfortable", Azula said, grabbing her large mug of coco with her small hands. Her tone was neutral and Lin wondered if she was being kind.

"No, it's okay", Lin joined her at the table with his cup of coffee and a box of ginger flake cereal. Azula reached into the box and scooped a handful of golden-colored flake and ate some while keeping her curious eyes on Lin. "Well, it's definitely not nice", he smiled bitterly at the girl, picking up the box of cereal and poured some into his coffee. "War is terrible."

He took a sip of his coffee and munched on the cereal. For a few moments, no sound was heard but the distant whirring of the maid robot outside in the lawn, sucking dry leaves with a built-in vacuum, and the crunching noise of the two firebenders eating cereals.

Azula swallowed the mushed cereal in her mouth and took a tiny sip of her sweetened coco. She popped the rest of flakes in her hand and dusted her hands, eyes gazing absentmindedly on her mug. "I'm going to join the army", she said finally, still gazing into the steaming dark brown liquid in her mug. "I haven't told anyone yet, not even Lu Ten. He wouldn't let me join; he won't even tell me about his life in the army."

Lin did not reply; he did not know what to say. Azula, still avoiding eye contact, played with her ponytail draping over her shoulder.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Grand Dragon Mall, Winter, Day 29, Month 12, 02:15 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

Azula was giggling and Lin was surprised of how sweet she sounded; Lu Ten and Zuko once likened Azula's laughter with the cackle of the evil witch in the popular play Sleeping Beauty.

"You two really jousted?" she asked, grinning.

"Yup", Lin puffed his chest proudly. "A couple of borrowed sets of heavy armor, ostrich-horses, and flagpoles, and we went medieval on each other. And we have the scars to prove it. Your uncle made us stand in the corner for one hour holding buckets of water like this", Lin spread his arms and looked up, wobbling a little. "There's one on our heads too. And we had to stand on one foot", he smiled at Azula who laughed behind her hands.

Lin picked up his soda from their table and sipped from the straw a little. "I think we were the first soldiers in history to have ever been punished in such a way", he chuckled. Lu Ten and Zuko returned with their snacks, and Lin and Azula cleared their throats and assumed neutral expression.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 30, Month 12, 11:53 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

"Your house looks big from down here", Lu Ten commented, looking up on the hill where the manor was located. They were celebrating the New Year's Eve with a beachside camping on the shoreline near the manor.

Azula was finally frustrated at the slowness of the sausage (that Lu Ten had stupidly forgotten to take out from the freezer until the last minute) cooking and thrust her palm towards the direction of the campfire. The small orange fire burst into strong flaming blue for three full seconds, making the three boys yelp and topple down from their small plastic chair before the azure hue died down and the flame went back to normal.

"Azula! That's dangerous!" Lu Ten scolded her; Azula paid him no heed as she stuck a fork on a sizzling sausage and blew on it. Lu Ten, clearing his throat, halted the sausage midair towards her opened mouth.

Lu Ten waited until Azula put the sausage back down before Lu Ten addressed the whole group. "Okay, about five minutes before the countdown. I have something to say", he turned to the three kids; Azula who was sitting with her elbow propped on her legs and head on her hands, looking bored, Zuko who was taking a sip of his glass of juice, and Lin who was rubbing his bare feet together. "First of all, I'm sorry we don't get to celebrate New Year with our family", he addressed his cousins. "This must be your first New Year without your parents but, well, you still have me", he grinned at them; they smiled back. "And this year, we get to celebrate it with a brother of mine. Lin the twenty sixth!" Lu Ten clapped loudly and whooped, Zuko laughed and Azula snickered as she clapped a little.

"Well, as usual", Lu Ten got up from the rock he was sitting on, dusting his pants, checking his watch. "Five minutes before the countdown. Presents tiiiime!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran, leading his giggling cousins back to their tent, leaving a rather bewildered Lin at the campfire.

They came running back, laughing and carrying boxes of gifts.

"Oh, it's a family tradition", Zuko explained as he balanced wrapped gifts on his lap. "We exchanged gifts every New Year's Eve. What are you giving us?" he added with a grin.

"Eh… accommodation?" Lin replied flippantly. Azula snorted loudly and evaded Zuko's glare.

After the countdown, they exchanged gifts; the most eventful thing that happened was Lin learning of Azula's strange inability to pick up proper gifts. Zuko was quite vocal about the book titled _'Computing for Dummies'_ he had received and Lu Ten somehow managed to let some distaste ooze out of his appreciative smile at the pair of new red woolen socks with many childish and colorful pictures of animals Azula had given him. Azula, hugging her new stuffed wolf-husky and a music box shaped like an old blocky computer, seemed oblivious as she replied several text messages she received from her friends and family, wishing her a Happy New Year.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Royal Fire University, Spring, Day 1, Month 1, 11:55 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin could almost see disappointment in Azula's eyes as he stepped down from the speeder-car. The girl pouted, putting her books and bag down on the three-foot-tall edge wall that framed the topiary of a dragon, one of the many along the street side of the University front gate. Azula crossed her arms miffily and, judging from the vapor burst from her nose, harrumphed.

"Lu Ten told you he told me to pick you up?" Lin asked as he arrived in front of her.

"I want to wait for him", Azula muttered, rubbing the pavement with the tip of her boot. She turned to Lin as the boy leaned on the edge wall at her side.

"What?" Lin smiled. "I can't let you wait here alone."

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 2, Month 1, 09:02 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin yawned as silently as he could as he staggered into his kitchen, looking like hell. "This early in the morning?" he said to his cellphone. "Lu Ten has officially broken his record."

"_He's impossible!"_ Azula let out a frustrated groan on the other end.

Lin was only half listening as he made a cup of coffee, listening to Azula ranting about Lu Ten.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 3, Month 1, 06:05 PM, Three Years Ago…)_

"Just get back quickly", Azula grumbled to her phone. "I'm hungry."

"_Are you sure you don't want the kiddie meal? They have new toys~",_ Lu Ten tempted. Azula hung up.

"Sometimes I feel used", Azula said to Lin who was sitting in the couch with her, reading a book.

"Lu Ten pushing kiddie meal on you because he wants the toy and too embarrassed to order one for himself?" Lin guessed, flipping a page. "Why do you think he keeps your baby picture in his wallet? He pulled that stunt all the time during R&R in Earth Kingdom."

"He WHAT?!"

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 3, Month 1, 09:48 PM, Three Years Ago…)_

"Glad that's over", Zuko yawned openly, still sore about losing the fire-air-water-earth to Ty Lee in the last round, hence was solely to blame for them suffering through two hellish hours of chick flick. Lu Ten had gone to his room masking tears with a yawn and Zuko followed after. Mai and Ty Lee bid their goodnight and adjourned to the room they shared with Azula. The Princess slumped on her back, slouching as she put her feet up on the coffee table. She bristled suddenly and quickly sat straighter.

"Sorry", she muttered to Lin.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 4, Month 1, 10:53 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lu Ten dodged Lin's fiery kick and returned with a flaming punch. Lin met the Prince's offense with a similar attack. They engaged in hand-to-hand combat with flaming arms and legs. Azula scrutinized their every move while Zuko seemed excited.

Lu Ten swung a hook; Lin skulked low and moved a step forward, evading the attack, bypassing Lu Ten's advance, and tapped the Prince's gut with his flaming fist. "You lose", Lin said, grinning.

"So do you", Lu Ten said, tapping his elbow on Lin's spine.

They broke off and bowed at each other.

"So, you see", Lu Ten began his lecture at his two cousins. "Against heavy armor, close-quarter firebending is the best."

The older Fire Prince stretched his back and looked around the training hall of the manor, sizing the space. "Okay, pair up. Zuko, with me. He has terrible control", Lu Ten explained the last part to Lin. "Azula, with Lin. She's stronger than she looks and she's mean", he warned Lin and, as Azula walked toward Lin who was already walking to the other side of the hall, Lu Ten mouthed '_kick his butt'_ and high-fived the girl.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 5, Month 1, 06:54 PM, Three Years Ago…)_

"This is stupid", Azula commented at the game she was playing.

"Ng… I wanted to warn you but… Ty Lee is…" Lin sighed.

The first time the boys tried to convert Azula into the world of video gaming, they failed and Azula wiped the floor with their faces. Lu Ten and Zuko had given up but Lin felt like he would give it another try. While Lu Ten and Zuko went to get their movie tickets earlier that day, Lin brought Azula and the girls to a video game store where he instructed Azula to pick her own game. Azula had picked one with a picture of a tundra tanks while Ty Lee gushed at the one with puppies and kittens; Lin ended up buying both of them for the Princess. Against her better judgment, Azula decided to give Ty Lee's recommendation a try first.

"So, I just feed my pet, bathe it, throw balls at it, and just basically wait until it gets hungry again?" Azula harrumphed, putting her controller down. "That's dumb."

"Well, they are interested in the realism", Lin said, reading the box of the pet simulation game.

"Realism?" Azula snorted. "I think realism went out the window the moment I can pick an extinct animal as a pet", she gestured at her pet lion-turtle.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 6, Month 1, 12:54 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lu Ten tapped his foot, hands on his waist, his foot crunching the grass under. Lin and Azula shrunk under his stare.

"What were you two doing?" he growled, staring the two one by one.

"It's just one time", Azula mumbled, gripping her elbow, looking away guiltily.

"It was completely safe", Lin reasoned, earning Lu Ten's glare.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Fire Nation Military Airport, Spring, Day 7, Month 1, 10:46 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

The airship waited for them. Lin was sometimes glad he was friend with Prince Lu Ten. Military airships do not wait for just anyone.

Biao squeezed him tightly, whispering to him to be safe. Lin hugged her back but said nothing. At their side, Lu Ten was stroking his baby cousin's head on his chest. He leaned down and pecked her head; Lin saw his mouth move, whispering something. Azula broke off and smiled sadly and reluctantly. Lu Ten laughed and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Lu Ten turned to Lin and nodded. The two boys picked their bags and moved to the airship. They turned around at the top of the ramp and looked back at their loved ones.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation Colony of Gaipan - Fire Nation Military Base, Autumn, Three Years Ago.)_

"Well, we're… friends", Lin tried to explain and Lu Ten fumed, smoke arising from his ears. "Would you stop looking at me like that?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN FRIENDS?!" Lu Ten exploded. "WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS?!"

Lin rubbed his ear.

"Friends", he said. "Just regular friends."

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Lu Ten demanded.

"What do you mean 'how did this happen'?" Lin frowned. "Aren't you tired of screaming?" he cringed and shielded his head with his arms as sparks of flame burst out from every orifices of Lu Ten red veiny head. "You guys were at my place every day, remember? We… we got close."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 29, Month 12, 07:13 AM, Four Years Ago…)_

Clearing her throat, Azula drank the rest of her drink and patted her red nightrobe as she got up. She moved to the smaller stairway that connected the kitchen to the second floor and, at the middle of the steps, she stopped. "Hey…"

Lin turned to her with raised brows. For the first time ever, the girl smiled at him. "Thanks."

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Grand Dragon Mall, Winter, Day 29, Month 12, 02:19 PM, Four Years Ago…)_

"Why are you grinning at each other?" Lu Ten asked suspiciously, turning his gaze from Lin to Azula and to Lin again.

"Nothing", they said in tandem. Lin cleared his throat, picked up his drink and sipped from the straw. Azula did the same as they exchanged smirk.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 1, Month 12, 12:54 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin was sitting on one of the four sunloungers the kids had brought with them, watching the stars and enjoying the cold breeze of the last of winter. Azula came and joined him quietly, hugging her new stuffed wolf-husky Zuko had given her. The Princess rested her back on the sunlounger next to Lin and turned to look at the boy. Lin felt Azula's gaze and turned to her.

Azula reached to her pocket and took out a small wrapped rectangular box. She gave it to Lin. "I know that you're still mourning for your grandmother and you're not supposed to do any celebration but…" she looked uncertain for a moment. "It just feels off. So, I got you something."

"Thanks", Lin took it and opened his gift. "Um… a knife?" he picked up the small knife and inspected it; palm-sized, with slightly-inwardly-curved silver blade and gold-encrusted ivory handle, no sheath. "This isn't a real knife, is it?" Lin guessed from the lightweight of the knife.

"It's a fruit knife", Azula shrugged.

_Dear Agni, the girl really does suck at picking up gifts_, Lin thought to himself. "I like it", he smiled politely. "Oh, and silly me… I seem to have left your gift at my place."

_Back at the manor, right before breakfast that morning…_

"Do you like it?" Lin asked.

"Yes", Azula replied, trying not to smile too much.

"Here", Lin offered. "Let me help you put it on."

Azula handed Lin the charm bracelet with the twelve zodiac animals and a small amber centerpiece, and let the boy put it on her wrist.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Royal Fire University, Winter, Day 1, Month 1, 11:55 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin stretched his back a little to mask his discomfort and slight exhaustion. Azula had been quite adamant for Lu Ten to take her to the University that morning after breakfast because she needed to check the library. Lu Ten had come back to the manor and collapsed in the living room, but not before delegating the task to pick Azula up to Lin who had the misfortune of being in the living room at the moment and the only other person around the vicinity who had a driver license.

Azula checked the time on her cellphone and sighed loudly. She stored her cellphone back to her pocket and, bringing her hands to her mouth, she breathed vapor onto them.

"You cold?" Lin asked and, without waiting for answer, took off his knee-length coat and draped it over the girl's shoulders. Azula muttered a soft '_thanks'_ as she slid her arms into the sleeves. She brought her hands hidden in the oversized coat sleeves to her mouth and breathed out warm breath.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 2, Month 1, 09:07 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

"So, come here", Lin offered, sipping his coffee. "I'm going to sleep all day anyway. You can use my internet."

"_Lu Ten would go crazy if he finds out",_ Azula pondered aloud; Lin imagined she was making her 'thinky face' on the other end of the phone. _"Come and pick me up."_

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Spring, Day 3, Month 1, 06:07 PM, Three Years Ago…)_

"Here", Lin came back with an incriminating photograph of Lu Ten during a Hungry Ghost Festival costume party. "For emergency only."

Azula took one look at Lu Ten dressed up as a mermaid, complete with the seashell bra, and burst out laughing.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 3, Month 1, 09:48 PM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin snickered as he put his feet up on the coffee table. Azula stifled an amused smile as she slouched back and mimicked Lin's gesture. They watched the rest of the nine o'clock news playing footsie just for the fun of it.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 5, Month 1, 10:55 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Azula punched a lazy flaming fist at Lin who dodged easily.

"You know", Lin started, still in his ready stance. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you weren't trying very hard."

Azula ignored his comment.

"When are you two going back to the war?" she asked quietly.

Lin did not answer right away. "In a couple of days. Didn't Lu Ten tell you?"

Azula threw several half-hearted punches before she muttered. "He did."

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 5, Month 1, 07:02 PM, Three Years Ago…) _

"Hey", Lin, noticing Azula's suddenly going gloomy, took out his fruit knife from his pocket. "Thanks again. I like my new knife. I think I'm going to call it Yun Li."

Azula chuckled; suddenly she found her tank game fascinating. "You're a dummy."

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, Winter, Day 6, Month 1, 12:58 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

"Boy, you'd think I let you fire a rocket launcher or something", Lin snickered at Lu Ten's stomping away, steaming after a thorough scolding he had given the two. "I mean, I even use stun bullets."

Azula, sitting by Lin's side on the backyard bench where Lin had just taught her how to shoot and was currently emptying his gun, propped her elbows on her thighs and rested her chin of her hands.

"You're really leaving, aren't you?" the girl asked quietly, refusing to look at the boy and kept her gaze on his knee.

Lin glanced at the girl but did not speak until he was through with his gun. Putting his gun on the bench, he stretched his arms above his head and said. "Yeah."

Azula did not reply or turn to him completely. Her gaze she directed to and kept at the fallen cans they had used as targets. After awhile, she stood up and calmly rubbed the sleeves of her nightrobe and dusted her pants. She cleared her throat and tucked her hair away as the slight breeze tussled her raven hair, only to have the flocks return to the appointed place at the sides of her face.

She turned to Lin, holding her bangs with her hand.

Lin did not expect her to lean down and kiss him on the face, on the corner of his mouth.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Fire Nation Military Airport, Winter, Day 7, Month 1, 10:48 AM, Three Years Ago…)_

Lin's eyes met Azula's and the Princess waved back timidly.

Lin noticed she was wearing the charm bracelet he had given her, dangling on her wrist as she waved goodbye.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation Colony of Gaipan - Fire Nation Military Base, Autumn, Three Years Ago.)_

"I'm telling you, it's nothing", Lin grumbled. "Azula's worried about you, okay. She's calling me to check on you", Lin lied through his teeth; well, half-lie. Sometimes, Lu Ten's wellbeing and the fact that he was still alive turned up in his conversation with the girl; mostly it was just Azula asking about his life in the Army and Lin asking about the news back home. They had silly thing going on where Azula would read a newspaper to him and Lin read a mission report to her over the phone.

The young fifteen-year-old captain yelped as the bigger and older lieutenant grabbed his collar and lifted him off his feet. Lu Ten possessed an uncharacteristic big muscular frame that, according to Iroh, he got from his side of the family. Iroh had the built of a bodybuilder during the prime of his youth and his brother Ozai, according to rumor, had the body of a male underwear model that horny women everywhere fantasized about.

"Okay…" Lu Ten narrowed his eyes sharply. "But, I swear if anything happens between you two…"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll burn me to crisp. Is before or after I stabbed you with my knife?" Lin sighed, poking the Prince's ribs with his knife.

"And with the knife Azula gave you?!" Lu Ten exclaimed, dropping the smaller boy down and proceeded to ripped his hair and screamed in horror.

"Relax, will you?" Lin flattened his tussled up garb and reached to his cellphone. He dialed the number from his speed-dial and waited until it connected.

"_Hello?" _came a sleepy rasp.

"Hey, morning. I think. Is it morning back home?" Lin said cheerfully.

"_Yeah",_ Azula yawned. _"What is it? I didn't sleep last night. I was working on a paper."_

"Yeah… Sorry to bother you but… you see, it's Lu Ten", Lin cleared his throat. Lu Ten's messed up head finally realized who Lin was talking to and his face slowly and painfully contorted into an expression of horror.

"He's going crazy", Lin said, dodging Lu Ten's attempt to snatch the phone. "He thought there is something going on between us."

"_Put him on the phone. I can hear him hyperventilating nearby",_ Azula sighed tiredly.

"Okay", Lin held the phone out; Lu Ten promptly snatched it but before he could say a word, Azula's angry yell blasted through his eardrum, nearly knocking him off his feet. The next five minutes was filled with Lu Ten apologizing profusely under Azula's non-ending admonition and Lin picking dirt under his fingernails smugly.

"Okay, okay", Lu Ten muttered. "I get it, okay."

Lu Ten handed the phone back, sulking.

"_There, problem solved",_ Azula returned to her sleepy self.

"Thanks", Lin grinned smugly at the dejected Lu Ten. "What? You want me to… are you sure?... Okay, then… Yeah, bye."

Lin flipped his cellphone closed and walked up to Lu Ten. "I'm sorry, man. The Princess of the Nation ordered me to", he said before he kicked Lu Ten in the shin.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation Colony of Gaipan - Fire Nation Military Base, Autumn, Three Years Ago.)_

"Okay, this is it… the moment of truth", Lu Ten rubbed his hands giddily, walking to the corner of the room.

On the other end of the room, on a cushion made of a pillow Lu Ten had stolen from the supply warehouse, was his iron battle rod. The hilt was designed and engraved to mimic a sword hilt and the hand guard was round and small; the rod was square and sectioned, made up of eight eight-centimeter sections (eight is a lucky number) and each sectioned was engraved with pictures of a firebender doing different four-step looped firebending moves, and the tip was rounded.

It was a gift from the Fire Lord himself when Lu Ten was finally deemed worthy by his father to fight for real.

Lu Ten picked the weapon up almost lovingly and Lin was still a little amazed at how easily the older boy picked up such heavy weapon. Lu Ten grinned at Lin and gripped the hilt tighter. Lin heard the distinct whirr that any soldiers worth his flame would readily associate with the faint hum of a deflector shield. The layer of translucent energy enveloped the rod up from the hand guard to the tip, and to Lin the thin bubble-like layer of energy bore an uncomfortable resemblance to…

"Dude, it looks like—"

"Abububub! Don't say it! It is not going to ruin my moment!"

"But, dude—"

"No! It's cool! I don't care! It's cool!"

"Dude…"

Lu Ten emitted a high-pitch hitching sound but kept his grin at his masterpiece, singing. "Lalalalala!"

"Dude!" Lin exclaimed. "That thing looks like—"

"I SAID DON'T SAY IT!"

…_five minutes later…_

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lin grimaced, pointing his handgun down at the dirt ground of the compound where a group of curious people had gathered to see how Lieutenant Lu Ten's newest project would blow up in his face this time.

"Yeah, I'm ready", Lu Ten's muffled voice came out from inside the cocoon of the masked helmet and iron breastplate he was wearing. "I set the shield on high-intensity, so the plasma bolt from your gun will definitely bounce."

The nearby crowd dispersed quickly like a swarm of fire ants poured with hot water, quickly hiding themselves under cover, peeking from a safe place.

"Okay, now shoot me", Lu Ten ordered; Lin could hear his grin in his voice. "I'm ready."

Lin exasperated slightly and aimed his gun at the Prince. He aimed down his sight, willed his finger to squeeze the trigger, but dropped his aim once more. "I'm sorry, man. I can't."

"Oh, come on!" Lu Ten exclaimed. "What kind of a bro are you? Just shoot me with the damn thing!"

"Look, even if your gadget does work, you are forgetting something", Lin stated the obvious. "You're no Jedi! You can't possibly hit an incoming plasma bolt."

Lu Ten seemed to consider this.

…_five seconds later…_

"Okay, buddy", Lu Ten shouted from the on top of the chimney on the mess hall, hiding with two other soldiers behind the thick solid brick chimney. "Fire when you're ready!"

"And what if it bounces to my face?!" Lin screamed back at the stupid Prince.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure it won't bounce to your direction", he didn't even have the courtesy of hiding his crossed fingers; Lin naturally returned the favor. "*gasp* Put _that_ finger away, young man!"

Grumbling, Lin returned his attention to the straw dummy holding the lit-up battle rod and aimed at the weapon. He fired a shot and it missed by a few inches.

"Shoot straight, man! Eeekkk!" Lu Ten quickly ducked behind the chimney before the fireball hit his face. Growling, Lin fired a few couple more miss; his fourth shot hit the rod and the bolt was deflected, bouncing away to the sky.

"YEEESS!" Lu Ten jumped high in the air and landed funny; the nearby soldiers luckily grabbed his garb before he slid down to the ground but Lu Ten did not care. "Yeess! It works! It works! One step closer to a real lightsaber! I just need to find a way to generate a continuous plasma discharge and stabilize it and built a durable enough container and I can finally have a real lightsaber!"

"Yeah, way to nerd it up", Lin commented, holstering his gun and walked to the dummy to retrieve the battle rod. "Congrats, man!" he yelled over the cheering crowd who had extracted Lu Ten from the roof and carried him around like a hero. Lin picked up the heavy weapon, still with the shield on. I really looked like... "You totally just built a weapon condom."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 12:45 AM)_

Lin smiled in his sleep, a really good sleep in quite a while. He shifted a little, lying on his back. Azula grunted a little and snuggled onto him tighter.

They had similar smile on their faces.


	6. Chapter 6 - Past, Part 2

**Chapter 6 – Past, Part 2**

Disclaimer: own nothing

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Wall of Ba Sing Se, Summer, Two Years Ago, ten minutes before the wall came down…)_

Lin and Lu Ten ran as fast as they could across the stone corridor. The Terra Team was on their tail but the two firebenders cared little for them. Their infiltration to one of the Ba Sing Se's famous ray shield generators, one of the many that were installed into the wall, connected by a maze of corridors and maintained by a group of operators and guarded by the elite Terra Team.

Lu Ten tapped his bracer; the gadget he had installed in popped up and interactive holographic display of the software the military had developed floated above his arm. The lieutenant frantically tapped several buttons and a bar with the word 'hacking' above it popped up. The bar filled slower than he had anticipated. "Oh, come on!"

Lin quickly skidded to stop and turned around, sending jabs of fire at the group of soldiers who quickly dispersed. The Terra Team wore their signature sand-brown plate the shape of Earth Kingdom insignia, sewn onto the front of their olive-green garb with tan yellow outline, shoulder garment, and trousers, and their tan yellow sash. Their helmets were conical and had the same color theme as their garb, with a small lozenge symbol on the middle and wide flab running down their hats, over their shoulders. They did not even wear armor or use guns, relying only on their earthbending skills.

"_Slower but more powerful"_, Iroh had briefed the advanced team; Lu Ten, Lin, Zhang Wu, Bara, Taka, and Rocky among the hundred pairs of the elite team chosen by the Grand General himself; included in their ranks were the special ops, Black Rider Unit, established and led by the young generations of the Fire Nation Military: Prince Lu Ten, Captain Lin, and their likeminded comrades.

"_The Terra Team of the Wall is well-known to be powerful earthbenders; their bending style is based on the movement of sloth-turtle. Have you ever seen sloth-turtles use their earthbending ability to build a dune? They are small but together, they can move a boulder a hundred times their size and weight",_ the Dragon of the West's tone had grown stern as he looked at the men and women before him in the eye and delivered his warning; firebending relies on speed and precision, and firebenders often looked down upon slow opponents. _"Never get surrounded by them. You will most definitely find yourself on the losing side."_

True enough, of the five Terra Team on their tails, three stepped forward and assumed a similar front stance and made a similar hand movement; a jagged thick earth wall jutted out from the floor and Lin's fire failed to bust through them.

The other two circled around each side of the wall and delivered individual rock blast. Lin raised a powerful fire wall that shattered the two chunks of rock, buying time for Lu Ten. The Terra Team seemed to have caught up on their plan since they began a maneuver that seemed painfully obvious to encircle Lin.

"Got it", Lu Ten exclaimed. Lin began backing down, sending quick jabs of fire at the earthbenders' feet, discouraging them to come closer. "Dammit! The door's ancient! They can only be locked manually from the panel."

"So?" Lin asked, backing down further towards the door.

"So, there's only one panel on one side: _this_ side", Lu Ten faced towards his direction and began helping Lin fending off the pursuers.

"And the door is opening slowly", Lin commented, leering back to the slowly creaking metallic door on the circular frame that whirled open like a camera shutter. The metal slabs moved at the speed of an asthmatic snail-clamp jogging.

"Come on!" Lu Ten swept a fire arc and leaped through the hole as soon as it could fit his frame. He landed on the other side of the door and rolled to a crouching position. He turned around and waited for Lin to leap through; the lieutenant assumed his stance and shot a quick lightning through the hole, zapping the Terra Team with its loose and wide-branching but less lethal tendrils of blue energy.

"Conserve your energy", Lin suggested, struggling to reign in his breathing. Lu Ten nodded and he looked pale and was sweating a lot.

"Come on", Lin led their escape, leaping and climbing through half-opened corridor doors.

They were about to jump through their … fifth, or sixth, they lost count, door when the whole installation, the whole Wall, rocked violently; small debris and dust rained down from the cracks forming on the ceiling and walls around them. The chained lanterns along the corridor rocked wildly, casting uneven shadow and dizzying rocking green light. The ever-present soft hum of power had gone off and replaced by sharp deafening silence that pressed down their eardrums... and a growing roar…

They turned to the half-open door behind them and Lu Ten voiced an. "Oh, sh******tttt!" as they turned tail and ran ahead from the incoming inferno resulted from the numerous consecutive explosion inside the Wall. Lin hoped the other teams made it out alive despite the fact that he himself did not know how they would escape this predicament.

They were supposed to escape after they incapacitated enough generators to knock down the impenetrable dome of ray shield and escape inside the city and lay low until the main army destroyed the wall with their cannons and advanced into the city. They would rejoin the main army and raze through the city and seized the palace.

Alas, Lu Ten and Lin faced a bit of a hitch on their way out to the exit leading inside the city. The Wall of Ba Sing Se is a thick layer of rock with a network of maze crisscrossing up, down, right, and left. The Terra Team roamed the corridors, patrolling and escorting the staff and, occasionally, tourists and visitors. On the way out, Lin and Lu Ten had encountered a group visiting dignitaries, from the looks of their rich outfits –one of them was a young man around Lu Ten's age, wearing long green robes and a strange hat that looked like a bowl or a basin, wearing small glasses and green beads, and holding on to a leashed brown bear creature. Lin did not quite notice what kind of bear; could be a short-snout platypus bear.

In any case, the weird looking men travelling with the highborn were most peculiar. They wore long ankle length robe with uncharacteristic wide sleeves (most earthbenders preferred either sleeveless or their sleeves tucked under their armbands) and they had green insignia with yellow outline on their chest. They also wore conical hats with a small spike and green tuff under it.

The things that Lin would never forget was their rock gloves and shoes, and the way they used it; one of them threw their glove at Lin as the latter aimed his gun, the glove landed on his gun and it… _grabbed_ Lin's gun, crushing it. Next thing he knew, stars appeared in his eyes and his nose broke as the rock fist flew to his face.

Lu Ten had suffered some serious damage himself; Lin's had hid sword shattered as he defended himself against the flying rock gloves and Lu Ten was caught by a pair of surveyor's chains. He managed to break the chain with his rod and they made a run for it; they were outnumbered and apparently outmatched.

They only had fifteen minutes before the bombs detonated and apparently had wasted all of them running around the corridors, looking for alternative exit that did not seem to exist.

"Oh, crapster!" Lin skidded to stop; from the corridor ahead of them, through the opening door, another wave of inferno was coming to their direction. They were about to get sandwiched from both sides by their own Element.

Lin saw the flame coming from both direction and, at that infortune moment, he realized what was missing, the thing that had unknowingly been bugging him since the very moment they were discovered and then after the explosions occurred: there was no alarm. No annoying, panic-inducing wailing of security alarm, blinking red light that makes everything more surreal and urgent despite the need for calm and level head.

Ba Sing Se was so arrogant with its Wall.

So tough, so grand, impenetrable and unreachable, unclimbable. They had never thought anyone could breach heir Wall; they did not even feel they need to install security system. Their corridor security doors were ancient and reflected their arrogance and ignorance.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Outskirts of Ba Sing Se - Fire Nation Military Encampment, Summer, Two Years Ago, two days before the attack on the Wall…)_

"_Do you like it?" _the hologram of Azula asked; the twelve-year-old was lying in her bed on her stomach, lazily flipping a page of the magazine she was reading.

"Yeah, I love it", Lin flashed a smile, wearing the ridiculous pink beanie with many patchwork bearing embroidered words of prayer and virtues like '_hope'_, '_safety'_, '_honor'_, '_life'_, and '_courage'_ on colorful patch cloths of red, yellow, gold, and, strangely, some black. "It's awesome."

"_Ty Lee knitted the hat; Mai and I helped with the patches",_ Azula looked up from her magazine and turned to her phone, showing her band-aid-wrapped fingers. _"We told her you'd look terrible in pink but, you know Ty Lee."_

Lin snickered. "Thanks", he said sincerely. "By the way, did you send Lu Ten one?"

"_Nope",_ Azula scrutinized him, tapping her chin a little.

Lin had not seen this expression in person, only in hologram and video call. He thought he would call it 'thinky face'.

"Did you get the birthday present I sent you?" Lin asked, slouching onto his headrest, placing his cellphone on his chest.

"_Yeah",_ Azula bit her lip and picked up the wing-shaped pendant that hung from a silver chain around her neck; Lu Ten told Lin once that Azula did not like showing her emotions and she had a habit of biting her lip to prevent herself from laughing or smiling. _"I like the amber. Ty Lee teased me about this"_, she sounded accusatory. _"She said boys give girls a necklace as a sign of betrothal."_

Lin's heart actually skipped a beat.

"Oh… really?" he managed; his throat felt dry. "Well", he cleared his throat. "It's supposed to be more like a choker than a necklace. The…uh, the pendant, it has to be like, um, you know, the base of the neck", he pressed his finger on his neck to support his point. "Between the collarbone or something. Maybe it's above it. Anyway, that necklace doesn't count."

Azula simply looked at him with that thinky face of hers. The girl shrugged a little and went back to her magazine. _"I want to try something"_, she said, flipping another page. _"Oh, hey, did you get the birthday present I sent you last year?"_ she asked suddenly, looking up from her magazine.

"Yeah. I like it", Lin forced himself to smile. "I like that bowl. I use it all the time", a big fat lie there. Well, not completely. Lin did use that ridiculously cheesy gold encrusted pearl bowl, just not the way it was intended to. Fancy bowls that could be sold for enough money to save a starving family are not supposed to be used to hold his socks.

"_What about that New Year's present from two years ago? Did it arrive?"_ Azula asked again. _"My dad told me military transport is unreliable."_

"Oh, the book?" Lin beamed; they were talking about one of Lin's cousins, an author who had just made his debut around that time and Azula sent him a copy of the book as a New year's present. "I love it. It's great."

"_Did it arrive late?"_ Azula frowned. _"One of Ty Lee's sisters works at the… that delivery division whatever. She told me that there would be a few weeks delay."_

"It arrived a month later; remember when we lost contact for almost three months because me and my Riders had to go behind the enemy lines?" Lin explained.

"_What about the one for this year?"_ Azula asked. _"Did it arrive late too?"_

"Oh, no", Lin snickered. "This time, it arrived early."

"_Two weeks is too early then"_, Azula sighed. _"Next time, I'll send it one week before the date."_

"_There won't be a next time",_ Lin nearly said this.

Azula's thinky face frowned. _"Interesting. I really can't see any reaction",_ she commented. _"I know what's going to happen."_

"I'm sorry, what?" Lin asked, playing dumb.

"_I know",_ Azula said pointedly, looking up from her magazine. _"I know what you're going to do next."_

"Oh, he is so dead", Lin muttered.

"_Not Lu Ten",_ Azula huffed. _"He still treats me like a kid"_, Azula's thinky face turned into a scowl. _"I'm twelve. One more year and I'm old enough to join the Army."_

"I thought that option is moot now that Zuko joined the police force", Lin said; Azula's displeasure became more apparent.

"_I hate it when people treat me like a kid",_ she grumbled. _"I'm not a kid!"_

Lin grinned. "Oh, come on", he tried. "People care about you", hard not see her as a kid now that she grabbed a random stuffed animal from the bunch littering around her in her bed and hugged it tight.

"_I don't care. I'm not a kid",_ Azula huffed again, dropping her chin down the fluffy looking gray creature with orange strips.

"Hey, it's that the ember wolf doll Lu Ten got for you?" Lin diverted the subject.

Azula rose a bit and looked down at the stuffed animal_. "Yeah",_ she returned her putting head on it. _"Why?"_

"Nothing", Lin smiled. "I just remember the time Lu Ten got it for you. It took him almost the entire day to get it from one of those claw machines. It cost him eleven silver pieces in the end."

"_He's a dumb-dumb"_, Azula huffed. _"He could've just bought it from a store."_

"Hey, it's his way to show he cares; doing dumb stuff the dumb way", Lin shrugged. "Anyway, was that what you wanted to test? Seeing if you could detect a lie?"

"_Nope",_ Azula returned to her magazine, smirking and hugging the wolf. _"You hate the bowl"_, she said.

"That's not true", Lin denied.

"_Is too",_ Azula flipped a page. _"When you said you 'like' something, you don't like it. When you say you 'love' something, it means you like it."_

"Wha— that is not true", Lin scoffed.

"_Hmm… what about the crab fork?"_

"Oh, I like it—dammit!"

"_Ha!"_

"Wait, don't hang up", Lin said urgently as Azula reached for her phone.

"_I'm not hanging up, dummy"_, Azula replied, getting up and, discarding her magazine, stuffed her pillow against her headboard and slouched on top of it, stretching her arms up with her phone balanced on her chest. _"I used my dad's computer to work on my paper; mine's busy downloading stuff"_, the girl rubbed her tired eyes. _"Anyway, I snooped around my dad files and stumbled upon Uncle Iroh's report on the upcoming mission."_

"You do realize that the military might be monitoring our conversation right? You just admitted to espionage and online piracy", Lin deadpanned.

Azula scoffed. _"Shut up"_, she whined. _"I'm just a little girl who's worried sick about her cousin's wellbeing in the warfront. Who would be so cruel and heartless as to punish someone like me?"_

"You've just said you don't like being treated like a kid", Lin reminded her, squirming in his own bed, putting his phone on the bed and lying sideways on his left side.

"_Not when it suits my needs"_, Azula said smugly.

"How are things back home?" Lin asked, yawning; a little voice in his head told him he should go to sleep but he ignored it.

"_Good"_, Azula said. _"They've aired the second season of _Dragon Knight_."_

"What? Maaan!" Lin groaned. "I can't believe I'm missing it."

"_I'm downloading it_", Azula settled on her side, her right side, putting her phone down, hugging her wolf.

"You're the best", Lin grinned; Azula yawned into her stuffed animal. "You wanna sleep now?"

Azula closed her eyes slowly. _"Talk to me until I fall asleep"_, she muttered. _"What happened when you went missing for a month?"_

"It's a long story", Lin felt a chill down his spine at the mention of the missing month; the time he spent in captivity of the Earth Kingdom Army.

"_Tell me anyway"_, Azula pulled her covers around her. She opened her bright but tired amber eyes and waited for the story to come.

Lin smiled a little. He had not given the whole detail of his missing days to anyone, not even Lu Ten, his father, or General Iroh. He had gotten separated from his Riders in a bombardment, wounded rather heavily, and captured by a convoy of Earth Kingdom Army who mistook him for another teenaged soldier of the Fire Nation Army and brought him to a nearby hospital unit for treatment before sending him to a POW camp. Of course, had they known that Lin was the son of General Jiang and the pioneer and leader of the dreadful Black Riders task force that was responsible for the fall of Omashu, Tian Shui, Jang Thu, and many other walled cities of the Eastern and Middle Provinces, they would have probably crushed his head with a rock on the spot.

But, there was something about Azula. Lin could not describe it. Perhaps the condescending way she looked at people, one that was born not of arrogance of her status and point of birth, but from sheer social awkwardness and inability to grasp the finer and subtler point of human interaction. Lin's heart fluttered and soared up high in the sky whenever he managed to make her look his way and he would jump up and down in the inside (sometimes on the outside when nobody was looking) whenever he was responsible for the girl's genuine laughter or smile.

And so, he did what she wanted him to do. He told her the story; the long story, the long version.

By the time he got to the part where he woke up in the hospital, surrounded by Earth kingdom medics, Azula was purring slightly in her sleep; her mouth hidden behind her stuffed wolf and her right hand limp around the doll.

Lin smiled a little and whispered. "Sweet dream, Princess", and turned off his phone.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Wall of Ba Sing Se, Summer, Two Years Ago, two minutes before the wall came down…)_

He would never see her again…

They were both tired and exhausted; attempting to firebend could be dangerous.

The four aspects of bending arts: the Element, the Body, the Spirit, the Will.

Firebending was the opposite of waterbending. Waterbending stresses the importance of Element above all; pure water is easier to bend, to transform, to freeze, to vaporize. Firebending put higher importance in the Body; strong body produces stronger firebending.

Scientifically speaking, firebending burns calories. Calories fuel their power and intensify firebenders' power. Every firebender worth their flame knew this and they knew that if their fingertips grew cold, they should stop bending and rest. And if they were shivering and felt a cold flush down their spine like Lin was experiencing right now, they must _not_ try bending. Firebenders have been known to pass out at this stage and, in some extreme cases, their hearts just stopped.

But, they did not have a choice.

"We'll hold them!" he screamed over the roaring flame, taking position and stance on one side.

Lu Ten snickered.

"We're not", he said firmly. Drawing the circular motion, crackling tendrils of lightning appeared along his arms. He delivered a powerful lightning bolt with all its full potency at one side of the wall, creating a gaping hole that allow a gust of fresh air to flow in, replacing the suffocating hot air inside.

Before Lin could register anything else, Lu Ten grabbed his collar and tossed him outside. The gust of wind from their high altitude blasted on his back, turning him facing up.

The last thing he saw was Lu Ten, grinning.

And the two infernos engulfing him from behind not one second later.

It was like a punch. A punch to the gut that knocks the wind out of you. Only, it was not in his gut he felt it; it was in his heart…

Lin kicked up both his feet and rolled midair; he kicked burst of flame from his feet and fists, and propelled himself to the wall. His fingers grabbed the stone, fingers skidding and nails cracking as he claws the stone to stop on the surface of the wall, holding on to the tiny cracks and bulges, trailing blood from his fingers on the stone.

Then, as luck would have it, he stopped. Holding on to the horizontal surface like a gecko, the soldier boy screamed. He screamed of triumph and pain as part of the wall, half a kilometer on his right, came rumbling down under concentrated fire from the Fire Nation cannons.

An army of red and dark swept in from behind him.

And he screamed. And screamed.

Tears rolled down his eyes and he screamed.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 04:36 AM)_

Lin eyed the girl in his bed with pain in his bloodshot eyes. He kept his booze hidden. Always.

He was careful about it. Always.

In his headboard, behind the padded piece of hardwood, was a compartment with covers that swung open. His grandmother kept her old letters, documents and deeds, and some jewelry and money, and an old dagger there. Lin had vacated the compartment and kept his old service gun, his medals, and an empty chocolate box filled with photographs of his soldiering days; or, at least, he used to. Now, it held a row of liquors of many kinds.

There was no way Lin could get his wine from the bed with Azula sleeping so peacefully there, tugged warmly under the cover.

And there was no way he would drink anywhere near her.

It was silly, he knew. But, she was pure and real and she was her. Lin felt like he would be tainting her if she ever got wind of him using alcohol to seek refuge in the numb from the horror.

She must never find out.

Luckily for him, Lin always had a backup plan. He was a gifted battle strategist and it showed in every aspect of his life. Azula once said that Lin never got into any trouble without planning a way out; unlike Zuko who leaped head-on into the fray, thinking things up on the go and often failed to do so.

"_Hey, that rhymes",_ Azula had jokingly pointed out, earning her the laughter from Lin, Mai, Ty Lee, Jee, and Chit Sang, and a killer glare from her big brother.

Lin chuckled at the memory as he took his second swig of the Air Nomad sweet peach wine in the hidden room behind the wall. As part of his renovation of the room, he built a false wall on one the right side of the room, isolating a space of 4x8 meters. Lin had installed a high-tech computer system on the side of the wall, with mounted screens for communication and surveillance purposes, and on the other wall facing outwards, he had mounted on the wall many modern guns, rifles, bows, crossbows, throwing knives and many other projectile weapons, and rows of differently-shaped and -sized portable sword handles. Facing outside right in front of the door was a limbless mannequin torso on a fitting that sunk into the opening carved into the wall and designed to slide out should anyone stepped onto a sensor placed under the carpet two feet away in front of it. The mannequin held his costume.

Unlike his room that was painted black and dark red, and had small balls of light fixed in numerous lantern-shaped fitting along the walls, decorated heavily with rugs, curtains, and furniture to give the illusion that the room was cluttered, the secret room was painted white and had bright neon light fixed along the edges of the room, shining an almost blinding white light on every metallic surface. Azula had once voiced her suspicion that it was supposed to wake people up and prevent them to get sleepy. Lin had agreed with her.

Lin was about to take a third mouthful when his hand accidentally brushed his mouse. The inactive computer screen blinked to life and his screensaver made him freeze.

Azula was sitting on the balcony outside his room, slouching on a sunlounger, clad in a red t-shirt of his that was too big for her, one of her flawless legs propped up and she leaned the magazine she was reading against her thigh. Her hair was held in a messy bunch by a claw clip and she had a pair of sunglasses resting on her head. She was holding a glass of yellow drink Lin remembered as orange-mango-pineapple juice he had made for them, with a red straw and a slice of lemon on the cocktail glass. She was smiling and her smile was as bright as the sunlight cascading on her, making her flawless skin seemingly glow and too bright to look at.

Azula had been slightly miffed that he took that picture of her without her permission that time; Lin simply laughed and dodged her attempt to grab his camera. They spent a few minutes chasing each other around the house and ended up back at the balcony where they wrestled each other for the camera. In the end, they made out right then and there for an hour or so, until the ice cubes in Azula's drink melted and took away the sweetness of the juice, until the her beverage warmed up under the sunlight and the glass no longer sweat, until he looked at her in the eye, her soft tender eyes, and declared his love for her for the very first time.

Lin's hand froze in the air.

What was he doing…?

Sighing, he placed the bottle on the table and backed his office chair away. He gulped roughly, staring at the ceramic bottle. He could smell the strong fragrance of fermented peach lingering in the air, inviting him to indulge in the numbness of mind it would provide… eventually.

But, Lin looked past the bottle and he saw Azula on his screen. The sight of her never failed to send that flutter of the chest he cherished so much.

She made things more bearable.

Lin looked away briefly, smiling bitterly. He forced himself to look at the screen once more, beating away the foolish fear that he was looking for too long and there was a time limit or something. It was foolish. Lin reached for the bottle and raised it to his mouth. The bottle never touched his lips for bright indeed was Azula's smile in the photograph. Sighing, Lin put the cap back on the bottle and stored it back on a false panel below the lines of knives on the wall.

Done getting rid of any evidence, he rested his back in the chair, closing his eyes and felt the full force of the heaviness of his head.

He hated his life sometimes.

War changed him in ways no one could imagine.

He went as a wide-eyed eleven-year-old boy, a firebending prodigy and a genius strategist who received recommendation from the Dragon of the West himself. He spent five years in the battlefront, half the War, and came home an old weary soul, embittered and broken.

He remembered the time he stepped down from the military transport, one of the many faces that accompanied the urn that carried the ash of noble Fire Prince Lu Ten, wrapped in an Imperial Banner, carried by his old weary father.

Fire Prince Ozai and Lady Ursa welcomed them and Lin slipped out of the crowd and went home, braving through reprimand and punishment for such insubordination. Reprimand and punishment never came.

He had thought of calling Azula numerous times; he had even picked up his cellphone and dialed her number on more than one occasion, but he never failed to chicken out and press the cancel button after the first three seconds.

He had immersed himself in his work instead. Selling some of the properties he had inherited from his grandmother, Lin used the fund as a capital to start a small export-import business with the Water Tribe; his understanding and experience with the foreign worlds and cultures, and his connection with Hakoda, made such business lucrative for both sides. Metalwork, ores, and farm products, he exported and he imported ice metal and sold them to local industries. It was not long before he rose as a formidable force in the Fire Nation economy.

He began branching out, buying out old businesses and creating new ones. He was the first to build a printing press to cater to the needs of the Water Tribes and he recruited many young talents from all around the country. He felt a sense of camaraderie to them; Fire Nation culture might be more liberal and skills-oriented, and offers more chance for the young ones to shine but, at the same time, the notion of respect and honor must be upheld. Seniority is a plague; Lin himself had been belittled by numerous senior generals and commanders due to his age despite his skills. Many young talents sought to prove themselves but, to do so, they needed to work, to gain experience and show off their skills. But, to get the chance, they needed to earn respect. It is a vicious cycle and Lin took advantage of that.

As soon as he made his third million, he dedicated half of his fortune to establish his new technology department, building high-tech laboratories and research facilities, and recruiting many young eager bloods from numerous universities and, at the same time, providing scholarships for many young potentials.

Not long after his first year, the Ministry of Economics and Commerce awarded him the Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Lin began branching out some more of biomedicine and military technology.

He began taking projects from the government and, before his eighteenth birthday, he had gained enough influence to actually purchase the Rose Garden Borough and set up his mercenary guild in there, calling in many of his former war buddies, and set the place up as an autonomous zone with its own set of law, one of the most controversial one was allowing immigrants to bend within the zone.

Of course, he had garnered quite a lot of attention; one that tickled him the most was the conspiracy theorists sprouting nonsense about the Industry taking over the Nation little by little.

Zuko came to him, frustrated by his work, and together they gave the Nation something to focus their attention on. Zuko had grown weary, like any good cop would, of the justice system and Lin introduced him to his little pet project in the field of military technology.

The Blue Spirit rose.

Lin was standing in front of the mannequin in the wall; the sensor picked up his presence and the mechanism whirred to life, bringing the mannequin closer to him. The boy ran a finger on the hood and carving along the edge of the breastplate. He had been running this game longer than anyone he knew.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City - Rose Garden Borough, Winter, 02:28 AM…)_

_Slum…_

The only way the staggering boy would describe his surroundings. He was walking flimsily down the empty road, one hand holding a bottle wrapped in paper bag, the other waved around wildly as he tried his best to hold his balance.

_Slum…_

His breath turned to vapor in the wet Fire Nation winter night and the road was damp and moist and deserted. The boy laughed bitterly and took a long gulp from his cheap wine.

_(…two years ago.)_

If only Lu Ten could see him now…

"_No!"_

_Lu Ten is dead!_ He screamed at himself, trying to plant a steady step ahead on the wavy blurry road that looked so much like a painting of a frustrated expressionist. _Lu Ten is dead_… he repeated himself. _He is dead… dead, dead, dead. He cannot feel or think or anything no more…_

The drunken sixteen-year-old looked up to the sky and his droopy eyes gazed at the cold heartless moon above. _Lu Ten is dead…_

It should have been him. Lu Ten should have been alive.

His head was heavy and looking up hurt the inside of his head. He could feel bile building up at the pit of his stomach, sending a burp that threatened to open a way to vomit. Naturally, he drank again.

A high-pitch scream tore through the night and, suddenly, Lin could register movement in the dark on the side of the dark street devoid of any working streetlamp. The scream was loud and sharp and piercing, like the sound of broken glass; it failed to quell the cruel mockery and laughter of males around it.

The part of town was a public park littered with filth and barely working playground equipment; a rickety swing set with missing chain, monkey bars with missing bars, a seesaw with missing handles, and a sandbox with a large used tire in it.

A blob of limbs and bodies struggled in the dark on a park bench; a figure broke through and scampered away only to be caught by the coat she was wearing. The five men, laughing and jeering, dragged the woman by her coat and her undone hair to the bench and held her down. Four held the poor defenseless female by her arms and legs, and the fifth men tore away the cotton coat and threw it up in the air, cheering along with the rest of his friends.

The woman screamed and cried, begging to be let go. The men did not care as they took turn fondling her harshly and kissing her forcefully.

"You should be grateful, b*itch", the fifth men held a knife to the frightened woman's throat, the blade gleaming under moonlight. "We let you dirt-eaters here in our Nation, give you a job and a place to stay. The least you could do is to show some gratitude."

The woman cried and sobbed. "P-please! Let me g-go! I-I won't tell anyone, I promise!"

"Well, pretty girl", the fifth man sneered, grinning wide. "We're counting on that", the rest of the men laughed with him; cruel heartless laughter that set a block of ice in Lin's heart and gut. He staggered across the street towards them as fast as he could.

If only the world would stop swaying.

"Hey, they say Earth Kingdom b*tches are _biiiiiiig_!" the knife-wielding men grabbed the woman's sash while the rest of the men laughed at his joke; he slid the blade under the cloth. "Let's see how big they are!"

He yanked the knife and cut the sash; the woman screamed. He ripped her garb open and cut the laces of her underwear, exposing her bare bosom to the cold air; the woman screamed louder.

"Stop!" finally, he arrived. Lin was positively panting, doubling over, catching his knees and breaths.

Bad move.

He barely made it to the trash can by the bench and emptied his gut. The knife-wielding man approached him and snatched the bottle from his weakening grip. Lin would have protested (it was _his_ booze, he bought it with his own money) but he was too busy vomiting to do anything. Two of the men grabbed him by the back of his coat and dragged him before the leader.

"Who's this?" the man grinned, taking a swig from the bottle and spat it out. He handed the booze to a random guy and pointed his knife at Lin. "Fancy coat you got there, kid", he said; his two men were already frisking Lin for valuables. They got his cellphone, his wallet, and the men on his right pulled out a handgun from his waist.

"Hey, Chan", the man handed the gun. "He's packing heat."

"He a cop?" Chan asked cautiously, taking the gun from the man.

"I don't see no badge", one of the men answered.

"Huh…" Chan inspected the crest on the gun handle; a small Fire Nation insignia. "You're a soldier, kid?" he sneered.

"Was", Lin burped. Now that he got a closer look at the men, he realized that they were just teenagers. "Wha-what's it _*hic*_ What's it to you?"

"My dad's a soldier", Chan spat. "He's an admiral."

"Oh, which one?" Lin asked in his drunken stupor; keen mind sizing his chance of survival. Two men holding him at both sides, Chan standing a few feet away with a knife and his gun, the other two were holding the half-naked screaming woman at the bench, one was busy licking her breast.

"What we do, Chan?" the man at Lin's right asked. "We kill him?"

"Yeah, take him somewhere and kill him", Chan pocketed his folding knife and held the gun at ready, turning to the struggling woman and her captors. "Hey! I called first dip!"

It was the opening Lin needed.

Funny thing about alcohol and firebenders: ethanol was highly flammable and volatile, and inside the system of a firebender, it burns quickly and the fume made them sick. It settles not at all well in firebender's stomach and sometimes gives a sensation akin to flatulence.

Lin let out a burp mixed with his fire and Chan was engulfed by flame; Lin might have as well sprayed LPG on him and set him on fire because no matter how hard he rolled on the moist grassy ground below, the flame would not extinguish.

The rest of the lot, including the tear-stricken woman, was stunned and battle-hardened skills and reflexes kicked in. Lin's hand shot up and he slammed the backs of his fists at his captors' faces. He got on one knee and turned left, delivering a crippling straight point-blank right punch on the thug's knee, snapping his joint. He pivoted to his right and cracked the pelvis and side ribs of the other guy with several quick jabs. He turned back to the guy on his left and, as the guy collapsed to his direction, punched a powerful blow on the guy's jaw, dislocating it with a crunch.

Chan was still screaming, rolling around on the ground to no avail, leaving patches of burnt flesh, hair, and fabric, casting more light on the dark park.

The two men who were holding the girl quickly sprung to life and charged at Lin with their knives. Lin closed his eyes and channeled his long forgotten inner fire; he had not firebent since the fall of the Wall. When he opened them, life once more burnt in his eyes.

He roared and punched a powerful stream of flame that caught one of the men in the chest, sending him flying and slamming him on the tree ten feet away with a patch of fourth degree burn on his chest, still flaming a bit, giving it an appearance of a burning cigarette butt; the other guy stopped on his track and watched his friend got killed so violently.

Yeah… there is no need to deny it. The guy of barely seventeen with a patch of burn that looked like burning cigarette butt on his chest was dead. Killed by bitter fire.

Having expunged alcohol in his body forcefully via firebending, Lin's head cleared up exponentially. Still, he felt no guilt over the one death he had caused tonight. Chan had finally doused the flame on his back and was lying on the ground writhing like a dying cat. The boy who held Lin on his right was the same minus the burn scar forming over forty percent of his skin tissue. The one on Lin's left was out cold.

The one in front of Lin grew pale and dropped his knife from his shaky hands. He got down on his knees and, with his hands on his chest, groveled for mercy.

"Would you have shown her any?" Lin hissed.

Agni, he was tired…

The woman gathered her ruined clothes as best she could to cover herself. Lin, still a bit wobbly, took off his fur coat and tossed it to her. Leftover alcohol and his chi ruffled by firebending kept him warm despite the cold of winter night and the simplicity of his winter garb.

The woman held the coat over her chest and stood up on shaky legs. Lin noticed her bare feet.

"You're an earthbender", he stated, not asked; the woman nodded weakly, her eyes moist and her hair ruffled. "Why didn't you fight back?!" he spat.

He killed when he should not have to…

He killed when he did not really have to…

_Lu Ten died when he really did not have to… should not have to…_

The sight of the misguided youth weak enough to fight his own weakness sickened Lin; the boy got down on his knees and began a kowtow that, under normal circumstances, only reserved for the members of the Royal Family and it only served to sicken Lin more.

No honor…

The woman stammering, "B-but, the law…" conspired against his attempt not to vomit on the spot.

Weakness sickened him…

"Go home", Lin growled at the woman. Her emerald eyes flooded in tears as she nodded with face scrunched up, crying silently in relief. She sobbed once and turned around. She took a few steps and she turned around to Lin and the crying kowtowing wreck at his feet.

"Thank you…"

Lin looked up from the delinquent to the woman, smiling bravely despite her messed up face. She turned once more and disappeared into the darkness.

Lin felt something he had not in a long time… not since the time he had learnt the true ugly side of war: raiding, looting, raping, killing of the innocents…

He had not felt this since the time he had become aware of the ugly side of war and how the higher ups, the people he had admired so since his childhood –his father, General Iroh, and many more military figures he had strived to emulate- seemed to turn a blind eye on it simply because it was more convenient. He and Lu Ten…

Oh, Lu Ten…

He and Lu Ten had fought hard for those people, those oppressed people who should not have been. They had braved many hardships and risks of punishment, relying on the privilege of their bloodline and noble status to keep them safe, their weapons against injustice of it all.

They had vowed to make it better; when Lu Ten came to power and Lin rose to the rank that matters.

They had vowed to make it better…

But now, Lu Ten was dead and Lin had changed.

All because they were fighting for their country, their people.

These people… the one lying on his side with cracked ribs and ruptured organ, the one with busted knee and jaw who would never walk again, the one with a patch of burnt chest on his chest where his soul was ripped apart, the one with angry burn scar on his back and writhing on the ground, the one begging for mercy.

Agni, they sickened him. To think that Lu Ten died for these people.

Lin had never felt this… not in a long time…

A sense of triumph, of doing what was right.

He raised his fist, ready to end it all. One fire blast was all it took…

One fire blast was what he let out…

…to the ground near the delinquent's head.

The trembling boy waited for what appeared to be forever. He waited and waited for death and pain that would not come; the revolting smells of burnt flesh and spilled blood invaded his lungs and he truly welcomed an equally head-spinning but less grim smell of burnt grass from the burning patch near his head. The warmth of the flame licking at the moist earth even comforted him somehow.

The boy fearfully looked up.

The stranger was gone.

Lin himself was already long gone from the scene.

He had run… run like he had never run before; his long garb fluttered like wings at his legs, his ponytail whipped against his skull, trailing in the air. He ran and ran and ran down the asphalt road.

By the time he arrived at the cliff on the Sundisk Garden (Blessed Agni! He did not know he could run _that_ far!), he was panting heavily, gasping for air as he grabbed the golden sundial hand for balance. Cold was the metal under his touch.

He looked up to the ocean before his eyes; winter wind carried waves that cascaded down the shore, roaring mightily like a dragon raging and trashing to get free.

He was a dragon raging and trashing to get free.

Thunder rumbled in the distant horizon and he knew he would get free, a ray of light that showed the promise of clear starry sky above the dark cloud.

Salvation…

This would be his salvation, he decided as pellets of rainwater fell down, drizzling on the grass, the cobblestones, on him and his awakened senses.

Finally, after Agni knows how long, Lin woke up. He had woken up from a long sleep.

Salvation…

This would be his salvation.

But first, he needed to stand on his own. He could no longer rely on his family, not after failing to report back to duty as per his father's order. He needed money and power but he could not take from his father's. There would be questions, oppositions. He must keep this quiet.

His grandmother had left him wealth; land, properties, valuables… he would sell some to make more money, gain more power.

Of course… so simple!

He still had connections, foreign connections!

Hakoda and his men had always shown his fascination towards fruit that grows in trees that grow on land, and he had said that when his men first saw paper, they thought they had encountered yet another ingenuous new invention of the Earth Kingdom.

And Tyro… the man always said that Fire Nation metalwork and technology could beat the best Earth Kingdom could ever offer. And that Earth Kingdom herb and medicinal plants were the best there is.

Business with the already established industries was lucrative, especially with ice metal. Before the end of winter, Lin had already made it to the list of rising young entrepreneur and begun working on several small projects with his team of scientists and was about to take the techno world by surprise.

Also, on the side, he had worked with artisans and weapon makers, designing weapons and armors. He picked up their trade a little and designed his own armor. He stood now in his secret room where he had used to keep his weapon collection and some valuables before; he had long since relocated the various gemstones and antiques to a more safe location and fixed in the computers and a mannequin.

The sixteen-year-old stood before his masterpiece: the set of hooded armor garb on the mannequin. He ran his finger on the carving along the edge of his light black metal breastplate, cloudy flame that curled and whipped. He remembered the training— well, _re-training_ he had gone through since his conviction after the incident at Rose Garden Borough. He had lost faith in the lifestyle of the warrior and had neglected his training ever since he returned.

He had renovated part of his spacious basement into a gym; he had fixed wall mirrors on the entire south wall, put in monkey bars, climbing ropes, target practices, climbing walls, punching bags, stone dummy for firebending, etc.

Lin had not expected his re-training would be so painful. Months of inactivity took a toll on the flexibility of his joints and the strength of his muscles. Training without a partner or supervisor meant that he had to rely on his willpower alone and it was difficult. Whenever he lost his spirit, he saw those innocents from the war, he saw the woman from the Rose Garden…

…he saw Lu Ten, smiling at him one last time before the inferno swallowed him whole.

It was a bitter work. But, now, there he stood.

Almost three months passed and Lin had regained his old skills, his old body. Only better. His firebending had never been stronger, his conviction added a bright yellow hue to his orange flame. He had grown stronger, faster, more agile. He had worked on new skills with throwing knives and various weapons, learning autodidactically by trials and errors, sometimes by consulting various weapon masters he had befriended among the immigrants in the Rose Garden Borough.

He had frequented that area, especially Shinrin Diner. The owner was a pleasant sandbender lady who had once helped the two boys when they snuck out of their houses to fool around in town and ended up getting lost. The kind old lady had brought them to the Diner, given them hot soup and desert date tea, and called their parents. The two boys had made the Diner their hangout place ever since.

Lin remembered when he got back from the war for good, delivering the news of Lu Ten's demise to the old lady; she had cried like a mother would, holding him tight and comforting him. It was the first time Lin cried Lu Ten's death ever since he returned.

Lu Ten… of course…

Lin took his hands away from the armor. He was ready to make his debut, to make sure injustice pay. But, there was something he had to do first.

He stepped away and the mannequin slid back silently into the wall. He walked out of the room and took from a footlocker under his bed a long thin object wrapped in a black cloth.

It was New Year's Eve and Lin finally dialed the number _and_ waited long enough for her to pick up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi…" breath caught his throat, chill settled in his chest. "Can we meet? It's been awhile and… and there's something… um, I need to talk to you."

"_So talk."_

"In person", Lin added. The line was silent for five full seconds.

"_Come to my place",_ Azula simply said before hanging up.

And that he did.

He found himself in his speeder-car, a simple black sedan, not too cheap looking, not too ostentatiously expensive looking. Biao had picked this one for him after months of pestering ("_You're a big shot businessman now! You have to drive something with roof!"_). He tapped his fingers on his wheel impatiently, looking at the impressive looking gate of the Royal Palace at the heart of the Caldera. He was starting to chicken out again, waiting for his willpower to return as he sat in his car across the street.

Agni, he could use some drink…

Lin nearly jumped out of his seatbelt when someone knocked on his window. He rolled it down and a girl with sour pale face was there, smooth straight dark hair tied into twin buns with long strands and even fringe framing her bored face.

"You're blocking my driveway. Move", she commanded.

"M-mai?" Lin stammered.

Mai frowned and leaned lower to get a better look on the driver's face. "Oh, it's you. You're blocking my driveway. Move", she repeated with a deadpan.

Lin did not break eye contact, confused though he was, as he rolled up his window, started his engine, and backed up a little. Mai walked back to her house, a lavish looking mansion, and Lin shook his head in disbelief. The years had not thawed the ice that was Mai's personality, it seemed, he thought to himself as Mai hovered out in her dark, dark, convertible speeder-car. Some people just could not change, Lin thought again as Mai climbed out of her car, got back in her house, came back out holding a baby, and set the baby in the children seat at the back before she got in and drove away.

…_Eh…?_

_WHAT?!_

Lin felt his mouth parted.

_Mai's got a kid…?_

Seriously?

_Mai'sgotakid!Mai'sgotakid?Mai'sgotakid?!_

Really?!

_*knock, knock*_

Lin yelped girlishly. Oh, thank Agni he had soundproofed his car. He turned to the passenger window on the left and saw Azula there, trying to peer into the tinted glass. Quickly, Lin opened his door and tried to climb out.

Tried.

The nervous idiot forgot to unbuckle his seatbelt. Cursing mentally, he undid the clip of the seatbelt harshly and jumped out, banging his head slightly on the frame but he ignored it. He straightened his garb and turned around to the Princess. He smiled a bit but Azula's face remained impassive. It was night and less than an hour before New Year and Azula, he noticed, was already wearing her hair in ponytail. Lin had noticed from the time Azula was staying at his place with Lu Ten and Zuko, and from the numerous video calls over the years, that she wore her hair that way only when she was going to sleep or lazing around at home when she did not have anything in particular to do. Lu Ten had called it her 'homey hair'.

"Hi…" Lin started, his mouth felt dry. Agni, he _really_ needed some drink.

"You said you wanted to talk", Azula muttered from the other side of the car, hugging herself for warmth despite the simple but comfy looking red coat she was wearing, tied around her waist with by lace.

"Yeah", Lin cleared his throat. He noticed Azula shivering a bit and offered. "Wanna come in?" he pointed at his car. "I have the heater on."

"My mom said I shouldn't get into a car with a stranger", Azula replied plainly.

"Oh, um, well… I'm not a stranger? Wait, are you making a joke?"

"Yes. Was it funny?"

"…of course."

"You're lying."

Lin smiled. Yeah… he did. Probably for the first time since Ba Sing Se.

If there is one thing he could count on, it would be Azula never changing. Much.

Lu Ten had once likened her to a computer program; sure, there would be new updates, but the main features would never change much.

Lin entered first and Azula followed. They sat and Azula took off her coat. Lin noticed she was wearing her nightrobe underneath and he might have to revise her comment about her not… changing. Because she did. A little.

Lin breathed in and collected his thought; Lu Ten would have killed him if Lin as much as took notice of how Azula had changed. Physically. Enough said.

She had gotten taller, that much is true. And she had lost nearly all of her baby fat. The features of her face –her cheekbone, her nose, her jaw, and chin- had sharpened and she was growing into a young lady.

"What do you want to talk about?" Azula started, getting a little impatient with the silence.

Lin cleared his throat again and swallowed hard. "How are you? Lately?"

"Good", Azula replied curtly.

The silence returned; Azula was waiting for Lin to get to the point and Lin was wondering if Azula would ask about how he was doing.

"Is that all?" Azula asked.

"No", Lin whimpered, slumping his face on the wheel. The honk totted and they jumped.

They looked at each other awkwardly and… Azula scoffed first, propping her elbow on the door frame and hiding her smirk with the back of her fingers. Lin smiled for the second time since Ba Sing Se.

"Oh, wow", Lin sighed tiredly. "This has gone better in my head."

"What has?" Azula gave him a side glance.

"This New Year thing", Lin made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "You're not celebrating, are you? I hear some music from the Palace."

"People are celebrating. We're not", Azula shrugged lightly.

"What were you doing? I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Lin asked, suddenly feeling lighter. It felt like one of their phone calls from back then.

"No", Azula looked down at the tasseled sash of hers, twirling it with her other hand. She was biting her finger a little, a sign that she was a bit nervous herself. "Is that what you want to talk about?"

"N-no", Lin replied quickly, realizing how panicky he sounded, and slumped back down in his seat. "It's… it's something else. Um… Happy New Year…?"

"It's not New Year yet", Azula pointed at the digital clock on the dashboard. 11:28:07 PM.

And so, they just sat there in silence.

There was a lot of clearing of the throat, little coughs here and there, stolen glances and awkward eye contact. A lot of tapping of fingers and shifting of feet, straightening of garb and robe, exceedingly high interest on the passing vehicles, and for exactly 31 minutes and 53 seconds until there was a cacophony of shouting trumpets and blossoming fireworks, the most spectacular of which appeared right above the Royal Palace; golden insignia appeared in magnificent gold sparks and shower, surrounded by numerous shorter-lived lotus blossoms of red and white.

"Happy New Year", Azula muttered, looking at the fireworks from the window. Lin turned on the ignition and repositioned the car, facing the front towards the Palace so they could watch the firework through the windshield.

Lin waited until the display was over before he returned the. "Happy New Year."

He turned to Azula and saw the light from the Palace reflected in her amber eyes. She turned to Lin and the latter was at lost for words once more.

He decided to just go for it.

"I have something for you", he said. He reached back to the backseat and took the long object wrapped in the black cloth he had taken from home. Azula received it and nearly dropped it because of the weight. Frowning, the Princess unwrapped the gift and recognized the handle of Lu Ten's battle rod instantly. "He would have wanted you to have it."

Azula traced her dainty, now long-nailed, fingers on the handle, recognizing some well-hidden scratches that shaped a tiny blocky Fire Nation insignia she carved there with a knife for good luck.

She wrapped the cloth back on and settled the heavy object on her lap.

Lin could not tell if she was upset or not. She looked impassive as she always would. Eventually, Azula reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in glossy red gift wrap with a golden knot made of ribbon. Judging from the perfectly placed bow and the even shape and size of the both side, Lin guessed she wrapped it herself. She was a perfectionist.

Lin unwrapped the box rather strugglingly; Azula had done such good job with the glue, she left no opening for Lin to sink his nails into and his nails scratched to no avail on the slippery surface, the part where the glue worked wonder teasing his attempt. Giving up, he reached for a knife hidden on his sash –a habit he picked up from the warfront- and cut an incision along the folded line. Carefully, of course. He unwrapped the paper and opened the simple cardboard box.

"Teacup", Lin picked up the small silver cup with engraved golden fitting that was shaped like dragons flying and circling the cup, breathing fire that shaped like the Nation insignia on the spot where their faces met and their tails entangled each other.

"Do you like it?" Azula asked, not truly looking at him.

Lin stifled a smile and replied. "I _love_ it."

Azula turned to him and narrowed her eyes; Lin waited until the corner of her mouth curved up a bit and smiled as she slugged his arm. Azula sniffed a little and cleared her throat, calmly pushed her twin bangs over her ears only to have most of them fell back to their appointed place at the sides of her face. She sighed and turned to Lin; the spark in her eyes returned, banishing the lump of rock cold ice that Lin had finally realized was there in his chest.

"Can you pick me up tomorrow morning?" she asked; Lin recognized the girl he had talked to on regular basis over the phone in her once more.

"Sure", Lin felt lighter all of a sudden. Freer.

The first step to closure.

"You need something from the campus?" Lin asked.

"I need to submit my thesis", Azula yawned a little.

"Someday, I should give this college thing a try", Lin grinned. "What time?"

"Ten", Azula said. "And, maybe we can go and grab a bite to eat? Ty Lee told me about this new cake shop. Fire Koi."

"Sure", Lin smiled. "My treat."

"Of course, it is", Azula opened the door. "You're rich now", she smirked and Lin felt the sense of victory he did not know he had been missing. Azula climbed out and crossed the street, holding the battle rod close to her chest with both hands. The grand metal sliding door opened and, stepping into the boundary of the Palace, Azula turned and waved timidly, and waited until the gate fully closed.

Come next morning though, Azula insisted on paying for her own cherry cheesecake. Lin felt somewhat happy that she was using the red wrap wallet with black cord he had given her for her eleventh birthday. It would be a refreshing and happy feeling that lifted him up out of the slum on his cold heart, especially after what happened in the night when he made his debut. It was a nice boost before their visit to the hospital. But, about that later.

And that night, the first night of the new year, he stood tall on the clock tower of the Rose Garden Borough, the pagoda shaped granite with red roof, with a large golden disk of a clock, shaped like a flaring sun. Cold late winter breeze fluttered his cape, the hood of his robe flapped wildly on his face, annoying him to no end and ruining the dramatic moment. He pulled the abomination of bad fashion choice down and thankfully the heavy cotton of the hood of his garb held better, mainly because the inner hood was smaller.

He breathed in the chill of night air, feeling the tip of his nose growing ice cold. He breathed in small flare of brilliant orange and tapped the gadget on his left bracer. A circular hologram display popped out, a screen with a line of waveform appeared, the waveform frizzed along with the sound coming from a hacked police radio.

"…_bzztt… robbery in progress… bzztt… …Teja Taproot Pharmacy… bzztt… …believed to be a group of… bzztt… teenaged junkies… vehicles respond."_

"_Dispatch, this is cruiser F2289. You've got to be kidding", _the policeman sneered_. "That's immigrant slums. Who'd wanna go and risk their necks for those dirt-eaters?"_

Lin was already free-falling from the great height when a raspy husky voice responded. _"I would. Cruiser F4587, responding. I'm a few blocks over. I'm on my way."_

"_Is that the rookie?"_ the policeman from cruiser F…something, something, the first one, laughed.

A second voice from that line asked. _"What rookie?" _

"_You know, that new kid. Barely grown out his Adam's apple, prettier than most girls out there",_ they laughed. _"Just some noble kid looking for glory, I bet."_

Lin felt the rush in his system, leaping up in the air as he approached his car from behind and landed on his driver's seat from the opened sunroof. Sleek fast sports speeder-car his team of scientists had developed in their leisure time; Lin had this thing going on in his R&D department called the Showdown. Every other month, he would have his people submit any designs they so desired and he, along with senior scientists, would examine them and pick winners per categories. This gave younger generation who lacked seniority or guts to submit their ideas in a more formal setting to express themselves freely without fear of any repercussion. Lin had assured them that it would be something they do for fun.

This car was one of the winners in the automobile categories. Fast and efficient, with high-tech computer system, sophisticated engines, improved frame, and nanotech nodes fixed all over the surfaces that had the capability of sending out jamming wave and deflector shield, and powerful antigravity to boot with a revolutionary all-terrain capability. It was designed to be the new government standard vehicle but the cost of building one was impossible high. Lin gave it an okay anyway, telling them jokingly that he liked the look and, since his cousin had been pressuring him to get a car anyway, why not have his people build one.

The board had laughed at the boy good-naturedly; they were old fogeys, men of science and practicality. They thought Lin was wasting money but another design from the cellphone category, a brain-child of one of his scientists and his industrial designer girlfriend, something they called a LeaPhone, the leaf-shaped flip phone design that the old dudes had scoffed at but Lin passed, had taken the market by the storm and was his best-selling product yet, proved them wrong and instilled a sense of respect on the young entrepreneur's intuition.

Still, the car was great. It was fast and silent, and Biao would never find out about that; Lin would make sure of it. A high-tech stealth car? Unless Lin could think of why he would want or need something like this, he would make sure Biao would never find out about this car. Or his extracurricular activity.

Sadly though, Biao would find out in two weeks' time. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Anyway, Lin, speeding through the abandoned midnight street, was thinking up ways of exploiting the situation at hand.

Most policemen would not even lift a finger on crimes committed on the immigrant slum, the Rose Garden Borough. Fire Nation had the mentality of 'we take care of our own first'. Like fire that burns; it gives away warmth when you're near but get too close and it burns and hurts. It accepts things that don't get burn and keep at bay things that could not hold its brilliance.

If there is one single policeman out there who had strong enough conscience to serve these people the way they were supposed to be, Lin would be very interested to see him in person. Also, maybe Lin could recruit him to his cause. He could use an inside man in the system.

Lin parked his car in under the shadow of the alleyway between two buildings. Right in front of him, a group of teenagers were trashing a drugstore, shooting fire at the shelves, and ripping out the cash register machine and slamming it to the ground, laughing while drowning bottles of cough syrups.

Lin waited, tapping his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel at the scene. There were around eight of them. From this distance, he could jump out, gun them down as he approached, and take on any stragglers in close-quarter combat. That would be his contingency plan should the good cop did not show, an odds that grew more and more likely as the seconds drag on.

When the teenagers dragged out the proprietor, a small old bearded man in green sleeping robe, out of the store and shoved him to the pavement, Lin decided he had waited enough. He jumped out of the sunroof –the alley was narrow enough he could not open his door, and, taking care not to damage the paintjob, he leaped onto the car hood and jumped down the street. The moment his feet touched the ground, he started running across the two-way street, pulling his gun free from his front holster.

Before he could reassure himself that he had indeed loaded his gun with stun bullets, a dark-red police cruiser skidded on the other of the street and ran over a teenager who was preparing a fire blast on the defenseless old man two of the other teenagers was pinning down on the ground. The irresponsible youth rolled on the police car hood, all the way to the top of the windshield, and rolled down again as his momentum was gone, replaced by the pull of gravity, and he fell on the asphalt with a loud thump.

A young officer in Fire Nation Police Department uniform of sleeveless dark shirt and stiff red shoulder garment, dark shorts and red sash, a pair of golden armlets, armored armguards, and plated boots, and a headband with a plate of golden-rimmed red metal, with a lozenge shape in the middle bearing a bright red Fire Nation insignia. The young cop was wearing a broadsword on his back and a handgun on a reverse holster. His hair was dark and tied into a top-knot.

And he was Zuko.

"Let that man go!" the young Prince shouted over the horn, taking refuge behind his door with his gun aiming at the group. Lin quickly dived behind a tree in the middle junction of the road, waiting for a new development while cursing the spirits for this unexpected development.

Azula had told Lin of how Zuko had chosen to join the police department instead of the army, hence sealing Azula's opportunity to join the Army herself (her doting father would never let her join the army if her brother was not already there; the Prime Minister did not even consider Lu Ten or Iroh and, even if Zuko joined the Army, he would only let the boy enlist into the Homeland Force). Azula had expressed her displeasure about it and Lin had chosen to avoid the sore subject. It was a few months before Ba Sing Se and Lin himself was too preoccupied to ask Azula more about it.

Still, from the way Azula spoke of her father and his frustrating overprotectiveness on his children, Lin would have thought the Prime Minister would pull some strings and make sure Zuko would never get to wear uniform. He had been under the impression that Zuko had been made an investigator or something, away from the dangerous night patrols on the streets.

Boy, was he wrong.

Lin smirked as he turned to the side a little, peeking over his hiding place a little. Yeah, he was gonna tease Zuko about this. A Prince turned a simple patrolman. Hah!

The chaos that ensued made Lin worried somehow. The group of boys jumped at Zuko who was engaging them in close-quarter, five against one, armed with his gun. Lin pondered upon whether or not he should aid Zuko; now that Lin thought about it, that dude had gotten taller and more muscular. No more noodle arms, as Lu Ten had once called them.

Still, not much of a reassurance. Zuko always lacked something when he fought. When he fought in a spar, he lacked confidence; when he fought for real, he lacked control. When he spar, he would have done so with Azula, Lu Ten, and occasionally Lin, all more talented than him; when he fought for real, he would do so with Lu Ten, Iroh, and, once, Lin, all more talented and powerful than him, people he felt comfortable to go all out against, people with whom he found it easy to lose control.

Lin ducked back into his cover as a wild shot hit the tree where he was hiding. He took a tentative peek and saw Zuko kicking one of the criminals square on the chest. One of them grabbed him from behind and Zuko rolled forward, slamming himself back first with his captor still clutching on him. Zuko sprung up but his remaining opponents overpowered him and pinned him to the ground. One of them grinned at his struggling self and stepped on his gun-holding hand. Zuko would not let go.

Lin stood up and, with his gun ready, was about to jump into the fray but…

He stopped.

Lin was a genius battle strategist, with skills that had been tested and proven over many battles. His skills had been recognized by his father who employed his wisdom and cunning, and Lin had never lost a single battle he had planned.

His mind was working now and Lin could feel it trumping his heart and conscience.

The fact is, the crime in Rose Borough Garden is often overlooked and unreported. The Garden was infamous to be the dwelling place of immigrants and underprivileged citizens. Juvenile criminals who had nothing better to do often preyed on these people in this area. Policemen did little to help and even if the victims reported the crime, they would often be ignored.

But, if one of their own was victimized…

_No! This is Zuko!_ Lin snapped.

He could not let anything happen to him. _It's Zuko, for Agni's sake!_

But, his mind was overpowering his heart.

He broke into a dash only after Zuko screamed as the one who towered over him blasted his face with firebending.

The smell of burnt flesh was bitter and sharp in the cold night air. Lin fired his gun and hit the firebender on the temple. Stun bullets are specifically crafted bullets made of powdered crystal treated with liquefied Water Tribe ice crystals and mixed with small ratio of Earth Kingdom green crystals. The color of the bolt is bright purple and it had the concussive bite Earth Kingdom bullet on a much smaller scale, supercharging speed of Fire Nation bullet, but none of the incendiary property if the ratio of the ice crystals is appropriate.

But, to shoot people on the head with it…

Well, the doctor would diagnose that long-haired boy with a severe concussion and he would enter a permanent coma due to extensive brain injury. Lin strode to the spot calmly and fired more shot, taking down four before the rest decided to shoot fire blast at him. Their aim was shaky, a sign of panic. Lin fired at them until two remained. They looked at each other in horror and one of them dashed forward, arms ablaze.

Lin kicked high and got him on the face. He staggered back and Lin walked past by, switching his hand and shot with his left hand as he walked. His right hand reached to the sword hilt hanging on his right waist and the blade jutted out. He held the blade on the neck of the last remaining guy who promptly groveled on the ground, begging for mercy.

Déjà vu…

Lin's eyes widened.

As fate would have it, it was the same person he had let go.

"You? Shouldn't you have turned good?" Lin asked. The boy looked up with horror on his eyes; he recognized not the hooded figure who was holding a sword to his throat, not that the said figure gave him much time to reminisce as the figure drove the sword through his throat.

War has a way to freeze a man's heart and turn it into a cold lump of stone…

Lin slashed his sword in the air to the ground, splattering the blood on the pavement. He stored his sword and his gun, and approached Zuko who had stopped screaming on the floor, he was gripping the left side of his face and Lin could see the burnt flesh under his grip.

Lin threw off his hood and crouched down by his side.

It scared him that he felt no guilt, that there was a satisfaction there, lurking somewhere, a satisfaction born of strategy well-executed.

"Zuko?" Lin called, putting a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat under his chest-plate. "Zuko, are you okay?"

The old bearded man scampered to their side. He forcefully removed Zuko's hand briefly and, taking a glance on his burn scar, he turned to Lin with absolute fear in his green eyes. "Take him up to my place, hurry! I can help!"

And so the old men helped. Not just Zuko, but the others as well.

On the second floor of the store was a small traditional clinic with ten simple and shabby but fresh and clean beds with white sheets and moss-green blanket. Lin had just finished tying up the last of the delinquents to the bed frame with a piece of rope when he noticed the old man moving away from Zuko and began tending the others.

"What are you doing?!" Lin snapped. "What about him?!" he pointed at the young police officer with bandages covering three quarter of his head, thickened over the left side of his face.

"He'll be fine", the old man rasped calmly. "I can't do much from here, I can only provide comfort and dull the pain. This one, however…" he returned his focus on the hooligan Lin had shot in the head. "He'll be lucky if he can make it through the night."

Lin still felt unsatisfied by the fact that the old man was working on those thugs. He sat roughly on the chair beside Zuko's bed and looked into the younger boy's face. He had not seen Zuko since his two-week leave two years ago. Zuko no longer kept his hair long in a ponytail, keeping it shorter, and he had gotten taller and bigger. Lin had maintained contact with Azula and, from the various video chat with the girl, he noticed how little Azula changed in terms of hairstyle and the kind of clothes she wore, if at all. He had assumed that Zuko had remained unchanged as well. He also noticed the line of dusty gold on Zuko's shoulder pad and was sort of glad that he made an officer at such young age. An unrelated and silly thought but Lin was panicking inside, and guilt-wrecked.

The former soldier put a hand on Zuko's forehead, feeling him burning up under his touch. He had had a glimpse on the severity of Zuko's burn and had to admit that he had underestimated the thugs' firebending skills. To be able to actually inflict severe burn on human flesh, on a _firebender's_ flesh, was not a small feat.

Something clicked in Lin's mind.

He stood up and approached the old man.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked with a tone of firm, bordering on cold.

"You're one of the boys who are frequently at that diner up in the market. You and your friend passed through my store often", the old man spoke without looking back, busy with pressing a smudge of foul smelling herb on the thug's temple. "I heard about your friend from Baba. I'm sorry", he turned a little.

"I need to know if—"

"I'm not ungrateful, boy", the old man sighed tiredly. "Go now. Your friend will be fine. Go, so I can call the cops in."

Lin felt a wave of relief wash over him; he still felt reluctant about leaving Zuko but he knew he had to go.

A strategist let his mind, and not his heart, rule over his action and decision.

"Thank you", Lin bowed formally, a Fire Nation bow (that's who he was) and left.

Not before nicking a random piece of bloody bandage from the floor.

The old man kept true to his work.

"I've told you I don't know who he was", he insisted as two police officers interrogated him later in the room. "Hey, be careful with him!" he yelled at the paramedic who was a little rough at transporting the boy who had suffered a gunshot to the head to a stretcher. "That man saved us. He helped me moved these boys up here and tied them up to the bed. Spirits know what that would have accomplished. I tried to undo the knot but I can't. It was too difficult."

"A mysterious hooded man in black just appeared and saved you", the officer drawled suspiciously, his partner taking notes beside him. The officer of short gray hair, whose sideburn mingled with his beard and moustache that was shaved clean on the philtrum and chin, showed his doubt on his sleeves. "And it never occurred to you to ask who he was?"

"No", the old man replied quickly, matching the officer's crossed arms with his own, unafraid despite the officer towering over him twice fold. "As you might have noticed, officer, I was quite busy with these boys."

"Why are you trying to save them, anyway?" the officer returned his skepticism in his tone. "They robbed you and wrecked your store. And they tried to hurt you. Why did you help them?"

The old man scoffed, hands reaching his waist in a display of subtle aggressiveness. "Why _shouldn't_ I?"

The officer narrowed his eyes sharply at the diminutive man; the latter held his stare fast and steady. Relenting first, the officer nodded at his partner who stopped writing and stored the notepad into his pocket. "Thank you, Mr. Yuan Man", the officer said. "If we have need for more information, we will contact you."

He nodded slightly and exited the room. He walked down the stairs and through the messy store out of the establishment. Exhaling tiredly, flashes of red siren ran through his face. He stopped a random officer who walked out after him, carrying a box filled with plastic bags of collected evidences. The officer took a bag that contained a cut out rope tied in a knot and examined it briefly. He returned the evidence and nodded at the young boy, dismissing him.

Zuko Kai, corporal. He knew that boy from the Police Academy. Bright and eager, talented and, Jee suspected, a noble born. It was a practice for noble born with warrior blood in them to send their children to live humbly and make name for themselves without the support of their status. Zuko achieving the rank of corporal upon his joining the force gave that impression to Jee.

Dismissing the thought, Jee entered his car and saw through his windshield a stretcher carried by two paramedics holding a filled body bag on it. A boy of fifteen had been killed; a stab wound to the throat. The killer was coldblooded, Jee guessed; and the welts and bruises where the others had been shot by the stun bullets, a professional.

Jee lit up a cigarette and his partner, done with giving further instruction to the onsite crew, joined him in the car.

"What do you think?" the man around Jee's age and size, with brown hair tied into a top-knot, asked, rubbing his hands for warmth.

"Looks like a pro job", Jee commented, eyes fixed on the ambulance that was loading in the dead body. He lit a small flame on his palm and offered it to his grateful partner. The other man sighed contentedly as he scooped the flame and rubbed it on his hands like soap, letting it flickered on his flesh for awhile before dying out, leaving him that much warmer.

"How so?" the man asked, staring the engine. Jee flicked his half burnt cigarette to the street.

"The shots; they are all kill shots, no misses. And the blade. Now many could wield a gun and a melee weapon at the same time", Jee rolled up his window. "And the knot that the old man couldn't undo; that's military knot. It was designed to be that way."

"Disgruntled ex-soldier, then", the man muttered, earning a punch in the arm from Jee.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – St. Serra's Hospital, Spring, One Year Ago, 11:52 AM)_

Lin ran through the rainy yard in front of the hospital entrance, pulling his coat over his head, holding it in place with one hand, and holding a plastic bag in his other hand. He arrived at the porch, finding shelter from the rain. Sighing, he readjusted his coat and patted away drops of rainwater from his clothes. Walking in, he channeled his bending and vapor wisped out of his drying hair, skin, and clothes. He made his way to the elevator, through the red marbled and tiled foyer, and pressed the button for the eighth floor.

Agni, he felt tired.

His heart was thumping in his chest, his mouth felt dry, and he was tempted to reach for the hipflask he kept in his pocket; he had not kicked the habit yet, though he did practice restraint lately. Just not abstinence.

Breathing in deeply as the elevator came to halt, he stepped out as the door opened, and walked towards the room where Zuko was in.

They had initially put him in a standard room, shared with three other patients. To the Nation, Zuko Kai was but a random no-name police officer who lived in a shabby apartment with a third-year college student as a roommate. But, after Azula called Lin, informing him of the tragedy that had befallen Zuko, Lin the twenty sixth, the new rich kid on the block, just had to do a sudden visit to the Hospital. He wanted to build his own, he had said to the director, a small pleasant old lady who was quite popular and respected among her colleagues. That was when he was nearly run over by a couple of careless nurses rolling a bed with an unconscious burnt police officer in it.

Lin had made inquiries, apparently fascinated by the patient, and, to show appreciation for the brave police officer, had offered to take up the bill for the best care the Hospital could offer; just for show, he had even offered his generous hand to any and all police officers and their relatives currently undergoing treatment at St. Serra's.

Not quite subtle, Lin had to admit, but it was the best he could do.

When he entered the room, Azula was sitting by the bedside with her back on the door, looking out into the blurry window. Quite a spacious and comfortable room with a TV that was currently on mute and ignored, a couch on the corner where a pile of blanket was on, and a dining table near the window with four chairs around it.

Azula did not look away from the window or show any signs of registering Lin's arrival until Lin made his way to the table, put down the still wet plastic bag, and closed the curtain to drown the rapping of the raindrops on the glass window.

The sound reminded Lin too much of…

Lin breathed in deeply, closing his eyes before realizing it was a mistake. He fixed his stare on the bright red paintjob on the wall, slowly taking off his coat while his mind tried to let go of the war that was playing itself out despite his horror. He felt sick and dizzy.

He wanted to run for cover…

Lin draped his coat on the nearby chair slowly, regulating his breath still despite the small panic attack already began dissipating. He was a war strategist and a war strategist took no chances. He took no chances. He pulled out wooden bento boxes from the bag, set them on the table neatly, all three of them, and put folded napkin and disposable wooden chopsticks on top of each box.

He breathed calmly and consciously through every single second of it.

He pulled out four cans of soft drinks and a large bottle of Xiang Guo apple juice, and poured a glassful for Azula. He turned to the pair of siblings and Azula looked at him finally. Their eyes caught each other and Lin braved himself to let go of his control over his breathing.

Azula's eyes were bloodshot, sitting in a chair on the left side of the bed, and she rested her hands on the bed, grasping her left knuckle. Lin approached slowly and, standing by her side, he handed the girl the glass of juice. That was when he noticed lines of faint red on Zuko's pale hand where Azula must have gripped him all night long. That and her bloodshot eyes were telltale signs that she was awake all night, waiting on her brother.

Lin knelt down on the bedside to get more on Azula's level. He sighed at the sight of Zuko, freshly out of his second surgery, according to Azula's text a few hours ago.

"There's a chair over there", Azula said without giving any clue where there was, tired eyes fixed still on her brother.

"I know", Lin went on his instinct and slung a gentle arm over the smaller girl's shoulder. His other hand went for her upper arm, and he pressed his forehead on her shoulder. "Are you alright? Did you sleep?"

Azula shrugged, not saying a word.

"Have your parents come and visited?" Lin asked again, pulling away his face but not his hold.

Azula snorted this time. Bitterly.

Of course, Zuko Kai was not a Fire Prince to the eye of the world. Besides, the Prime Minister and wife visiting this no-name police officer randomly, it was bound to cause some ruckus. The practice of having the Princes and Princesses living humbly among the populace did not specifically entail the change of name, which was quite fine since the practice of naming children after the royals was common.

"Mom was here last night", Azula muttered, sipping the juice to wet her throat. "Zuko woke up around that time but the nurse put him under since he was in pain."

"Really?" Lin asked, rubbing her shoulder and arm, hiding his anxiety over this development. "Did he… did he say anything?"

"No", Azula said, almost whispered. "Mom couldn't stay long."

Lin hugged the girl a little and stood up. "Come on, eat something. You must be hungry."

"I'm fine", Azula said, looking away from Zuko finally as she stood up and stretched, only to sit back down.

Lin had already moved to the table though, opening one of the bento boxes that exuded mouth-watering smell of curry rice Azula had taken a liking to as Lin heated it with hot steam he shot from his palm. Azula made no move. Lin picked the box, chopsticks, and napkin up and brought it to the Princess. Azula put the food on the nightstand near her and began eating in silence.

"I want to take a shower", she said suddenly after her third bite, still sounding solemn and distant.

"Okay. Eat up first", Lin said, stretching his back awkwardly. "I'll stay with Zuko."

"I didn't bring any change of clothes", Azula said again, almost sounding grumbly.

"O-oh…" Lin gaped awkwardly. "Um… I can get you something from the shop downstairs", Lin was sure they sold commemorative shirts.

"No need", Azula replied. "Ty Lee and Mai are coming. They're bringing me some clothes."

"Oh", Lin felt relief. And strangely disappointed.

He wanted to be useful in the time of her need.

"The doctors said there was a chance Zuko wouldn't be able to see from his left eye", Azula added with her earlier flat tone. Lin had a feeling that she had been bottling that one up and was on the verge of exploding.

She had to say it to someone.

Azula, sitting sideways in her chair, facing her bento box on the nightstand and her back on Lin, was gripping her chopstick tight the wooden pieces strained and flexed under her grip, threatening to snap in two.

Lin reached to her hand and her grip weakened under his soothing touch.

He took the chopsticks from the girl's small hand and leaned down to level his head beside hers, hovering on her shoulder. He picked up a piece of meat with the chopsticks and brought it to Azula's mouth.

Azula turned to him and scowled a bit. "I can eat by myself."

Lin simply smiled and teased. "Come oooon… open up!"

Azula turned away briefly, biting her lips to prevent that refreshing but nonetheless defiant smile from showing; her eyes felt wet. She turned back to Lin and the latter saw that light back in her eyes, the spark that Lin would grow to crave in every encounter he would have with her. Azula took the bite and chewed slowly, sniffing back her unshed tear.

She reclaimed her chopsticks and resumed eating. Lin fought the urge to hug her and the door creaking opened surely helped a lot. The pair of firebenders turned to the incoming guest; a large middle-aged woman with copper skin hidden under her slightly drenched loose robe and strips of cloths of sand yellow, and a tight multicolored bandana with chains of beads adorning around it. The woman heaved and, at the sight of Lin, her emerald eyes softened and she spread her arms wide.

"Baba", Lin greeted, leaning down to let the woman hug his neck tightly in her crushing embrace.

"_So srroy it heppenad_, Lin. I'm so sorry", she whispered, letting go and grabbed Lin's arms tightly. She turned to Zuko in the hospital bed and let out a painful groan that was followed by too quick a mutter in Kho-lo, the tongue of the desert people that Lin could not catch. "Azula", Baba, the kind-hearted proprietress of Shinrin Diner walked to the girl and embraced her before Azula could do anything, whispering words of calm and reassurance to the girl who were more perplexed than any.

"Are you doing alright, _lvoe_", Baba fussed over the girl, pushing her hair off her face. "Come, finish your meal quickly. Baba brings you your favorite pie."

Baba moved to the dining table, nearly running Lin over. For a moment, no sound was heard but Baba muttering something under her breath in her native tongue and the creasing of the plastic bags that held boxes of pastries. Lin knelt down by Azula's side once more and picked a grain of rice sticking on the corner of the girl's mouth.

"I have to go", he said, going out on a limb here. He had to do something, he could do it later and he wanted to stay with Azula, but his guilt-ridden conscience could not stand the sight of Zuko.

"Okay", Azula replied, chewing leftover food in her mouth; suddenly, she lost her appetite.

"I'll come back later with dinner, okay", Lin promised. Again, going on his impulse, he knelt up and pecked the girl on the forehead.

Azula's expression did not change although she looked away a second later and forced herself back on her lunch, if only to hide her blush.

Lin took his coat and bid his goodbye to Baba.

On his way out, he cornered the doctor responsible for Zuko's wellbeing and inquired from the middle-aged woman directly of Zuko's condition. After leaving some specific instruction veiled with threat but dripping with attempt to appeal to the woman's conscience –Lin could see that she had a kind heart-, Lin bowed to her politely and left with her reassurance that she would do anything in her power to make sure of Zuko's wellbeing.

_Dr. Azaya…_ Lin smiled as he took mental note of the woman's nametag.

Perhaps, he could use her in the future.

On his way out, he phoned his relative. "Cousin Yan? Say, are you still a lawyer?"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Rose Garden Borough, Spring, One Year Ago, 02:13 PM, a week later)_

"Yes, I know, I know", Lin smiled, holding his phone to his ear as he drove through the street level altitude of the traffic. Normally, car drivers would get fined for this but he took advantage of the unspoken rule in the traffic regulation about allowing powerful influential people (like him) to take advantage of the relatively empty ground level traffic. "I'll be there around four. Then, maybe we can go grab something to eat before we go… where exactly? Palace or apartment?"

"_Apartment_", Azula replied. _"Zuko's insists that—Zuko, stop scratching your eye!"_

"Yeah, you go give him hell, girl!" Lin cheered, smirking as he heard the sound of tussling and a loud '_ow_!' from Zuko, following more tussling. There was some clicking of Azula picking the phone up and Lin asked. "Is it true that you're an undefeated pillow fighting champion?"

"_With a trophy to prove it",_ Azula replied smugly. _"I dropped Ty Lee on the final last year in five seconds."_

"Atta girl", Lin eased into the parking lot and climbed out of his car, his regular speeder-sedan he drove around at days. "Now, if Zuko's acting out again, don't show mercy with the pillow, okay. I'll see you later."

"_Wait, are you going to Shinrin?" _Azula asked_. "Can you pick me up something sweet?"_ she pleaded. _"I'm at my limit. Zuko's getting on my nerves here. He's more bearable when he's asleep. OW! I'm talking on the phone, jerk!"_

*click*

Lin snickered at the siblings' antic. He was going to pick up some of Zuko's favorite coco puffs anyway; might as well get some mini cherry pies for the cranky Princess. And perhaps some pecan for himself. All this mention of food made him hungry.

He ascended the stairway that led to the platform area where Shinrin Diner was located. Walking across the afternoon market, many people, men and women, faces he had not seen in months, in a lifetime, stopped him and greeted him cheerfully, with smiles and laughter here and there. Lin hugged them back, smiled back at them, returned their questions of their lives and families, and what they were doing now that they were no longer in the Army or if they were still in their old unit for those who still remained in the Army.

Together, they walked to the Diner that was occupied by numerous men and women, foreign faces to those who frequented the place. They cheered and took turn embracing and handshaking the boy. Lin led them in, packing the Diner so tightly some of them had to sit on individual chairs and Baba had to close the shop early, apologizing to the patrons already there.

Lin let them settle in and catch up among themselves, laughing with the guys as Bara, in the name of giving up her chair to a late newcomer, settled down on Rocky's broad lap, winking seductively at the silent earthbender who turned crimson.

"Alright, men!" Lin roared, raising his glass as the last person got his cup from Baba and her waiters.

"And WOMEN!" half the room of the female persuasion shouted.

"And women!" Lin agreed and the room cheered for him. "It has been awhile since the last time we saw each other."

They cheered and applauded, Lin snickered but raised his hand to calm them down.

"But, seriously, it is good to see you all again", Lin smiled. "Brothers and sisters, with whom I have proudly shed my blood and tears."

They muttered their agreement, raising their glasses at him.

"I have called you, each and every one of you, here today for a reason", he moved to the middle of the room, assuming a serious look the hundred and eighteen people in the room were familiar with. They could almost see the boy in his uniform and armor, with a gun holstered on his front waist and a sword strapped on his back. "Tell me: who started the Decade War?"

The room was stunned by the sudden and unexpected question. They turned to each other and murmured among themselves. Lin answered the question for them. "It's unclear who started it."

They murmured again, in agreement this time.

"Now, what if I am to tell you that…" Lin drawled, making sure they were paying attention. "…the Fire Nation started it?"

It riled them up as Lin knew it would.

"We are Fire Nation!" Lin roared again, silencing them. "We are the People of Life Abundance! We are the Children of Agni, the Giver of Life and Lord of Energy!"

Ferocity was in his face as he spun, delivering his speech to the silent room. "They say, it has been willed that Life and Energy must expand. Move and spread, for what is Life and Energy if they were caged and limited?"

Some people nodded but none spoke.

"They say it was fated that Fire Nation is an island country; so when the Life and Energy in the people call for them, they need only to look to the edge of their island and sail away."

Lin gestured to a random soldier for his chair; he climbed up and said. "But, Fire Nation people are more than that, we are more than that: we are WARRIORS!"

"YEAH!"

"We are FIGHTERS!"

"YEAH!"

Lin turned to Biao, lodged between various soldiers who were all thicker and bigger than her; the girl nodded and tapped several times on her tablet. She projected a holographic display in the middle of the room: two flat rotating screens bearing faces and pictures, set to change every three seconds. The right one bore the family pictures, portraits of men, women, and children, happy and bright before they were replaced their pictures taken at the crime scene of their murder or rape or assault or pictures of their defenseless selves on a hospital. The right one displayed the mug shots and portraits of the perpetrators, smug and arrogant looking youths and adults they were.

"Men and women", Lin spoke after awhile in a tone of solemn. "We are a Nation of warriors. And this…" he gestured at the pictures. "This is the result of our warrior heritage. Our warrior heritage that found no war to unleash itself upon: they found people, innocent people who are not our own, instead. They hurt people who don't deserved to be hurt."

He nodded and the display blinked out of existence. Lin stepped down and resumed his speech in all seriousness. "We have here, my Cousin Yan, a very successful lawyer", he gestured to the young man seated by Biao's side at the booth, grinning nervously at the room. "He told me that he found a loop in the constitution that allows private party to purchase a whole district, even a whole island."

Murmur broke once more in the room. Fire Nation is a small country with large population. Everyone who had spent enough time in the Nation knew that permanent ownership of land is impossible unless it is an ancestral land and, even so, such privilege could only be afforded by some very old and very prestigious noble families.

"Now, as you may have noticed, recently I've come into money", Lin grinned; the room booed and pelted him with popcorn and peanut. "Now, now, settle down, your dirt-poor peasants", he straightened out, picking off a peanut of his hair. "I have a plan to buy out this whole borough."

The room fell silent.

"…Well, not right away", Lin shrugged and the room eased down. "But, eventually. There will be a lot of paperwork and many things to do. For far too long Rose Garden Borough has become a hunting ground for people of our Nation who think themselves better than the rest, who exercise power that they thought they have. I say, we should put a stop to it. Now, brothers and sisters, tell me: who were we?"

A woman stood up, straightened up with puffed chest, and saluted like a soldier she was. "We were the 212th Battalion, Special Ops Division, Black Riders, sir! We ride for glory!"

"And now tell me: who are we?!"

They all stood up (minus Biao and Yan, of course). "We are the 212th Battalion, Special Ops Division, Black Riders! We ride for glory!"

"And glory we shall have!" Lin raised his glass sharply, some of his cider splashed down his hand. "Glory over injustice!"

They cheered.

"And we will start from here, on the street", Lin said. "We will start patrol in groups, we will make this our home base. We will protect these people. So, my brothers and sisters, what say you?"

"AYE!"

They drank.

Biao tinkered with her tablet and projected a series of photographs of people who had been victimized by the crime who did recover.

"This, my brothers and sisters…" Lin gestured at the picture of a young child with a burn scar on his neck and face, smiling widely despite his missing front tooth, surrounded by family and friends. "…is true strength", he turned to face the men and women with whom he had shed blood and tears. "We will show these misguided cowards…" the mug shots appeared again. "… that what they did show not their strength, that what they did show weakness and the fact that they let others suffer for their weakness is a grave mistake. Riders!"

The men cheered.

"Go home, Riders! Go home and rest up! For tonight, we will ride once more!"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragonback Highway, Spring, One Year Ago, 04:59 PM)_

Lin tapped his fingers impatiently at the wheel, trying to concentrate on the slow moving traffic of the second altitude with the pop music humming softly from the radio. He was running through his plan to arm his men and finally decided that he should include Biao in his extracurricular activity (he needed her organizational skills!) when Azula nudged his mouth with a mini pie she had with one hand, the other hand held below it to catch the falling crumbs.

Lin ate it. "This isn't mine", Lin commented with mouth full of cherry pie.

"Yours stink", Azula made a face from the passenger's seat, balancing two boxes on her lap, her mini cherry pies and Lin's mini pecan. "Mine's better. And I want to share my food with you, as a gratitude. Because sharing is good and I understand that. Unlike a certain someone."

"Hear that, Certain Someone?" Lin called to the rearview mirror. Zuko, busy munching on his box of sugar ginger cookies at the backseat (Baba ran out of coco puffs), stopped munching with puffed cheeks and sugary mouth, and scowled.

Lin grinned as Azula fed him a second pie.

"Anyway", Azula cleared her throat, dusting her hands off the crumbs. "I'm meeting Mai and Ty Lee tomorrow for a movie at the mall. Can you drive me there?"

"Aww, look at you", Lin cooed gleefully. "Being nice to me with an ulterior motive. I'm so proud", he pinched her cheek playfully. Azula squirmed away and punched him on the arm, smirking herself.

Azula resumed eating and Lin smiled a little at her direction. She looked happier now.

_And cuter…_

He knew that despite the constant bickering, fighting, snapping, and one or two verbal disownment every other year, Zuko and Azula cared deeply for each other and, for some unknown reason, unwilling to let it show. Azula, after achieving her Bachelor's Degree, was offered a tutoring job and she taught a small tutorial class online; according to Lu ten, as told by Zuko, Azula was quite popular among the female students who thought she sounded cute in the online class chat room. Some older lecturers, while showing appreciation to Azula's brilliance, had expressed quite displeasure at Azula for often pointing out their mistakes and one-upping them instead of showing deference to their seniority. It got to the point where some of them actively tried to sabotage Azula's class and her own study in her Master's Degree. Zuko, already an upstart in the Police Department, actually sought these people out, ran a background check on them, stole a traffic ticket machine, and fined them everyday they passed the highway until they got sick enough to demand to know Zuko's name and rank. They would then read Zuko's nametag and notice his last name.

Azula had stayed for the whole duration of Zuko's time at the hospital, never leaving his room once, and that said something. After dropping Zuko and Azula off at his apartment, Lin drove back to his place. It was one of the funny little things that affect other things that was so much bigger when it happens or doesn't. Azula and Zuko had invited Lin to come up and have a cup of tea before heading out but Lin politely refused, saying something about work; he had to drop by the R&D department and see their progress about getting the numerous guns and ammunition he had requested ready.

Should he have accepted the offer, he would have had met Prime Minister Ozai and Lady Ursa, waiting in the apartment for a surprise party to celebrate Zuko's release from the hospital.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Capital City Police Department, Spring, One Year Ago, 12:23 PM) _

Zuko tugged on his garb for the umpteenth time. Promotion means being off the street patrol and he could (must!) wear casual cloth to work. He sat back at his desk after fixing his sash for the fifth time that day –not that the group of young female interns working on paperwork behind his desk minded- and sighed deeply as he swiveled on his officer chair.

It had been three months after his attack and it still felt weird. He had gotten back to work as soon as his doctor okayed it two weeks after his release, eager to get out of the rookie skin. He had worked relentlessly, often paired with interns and trainees from the Academy since most seniors were still looking down on him, but his perseverance and relentless work ethic at least won him their respect.

"Chill out, kid", his new partner, a large man named Chit Sang, put a steaming cup noodle on his desk and sat there. "You're so anxious, you're oozing out."

Chit Sang yelped and jumped away when Zuko poked his butt with his letter opener, a thin piece of silver shaped like a stiletto, a welcome-back-from-hospital gift from Mai that, for all Zuko knew, could be a real stiletto. Snickering, Chit Sang sat on his desk in front of Zuko's, facing his, and slurped his noodle noisily.

"_We return with live report from a press conference at the front lobby of the Deep Forest Industry."_

"Hey, Li! No, not _you_, Lee. The other Li, by the TV. Can you turn the volume up?" Chit Sang shouted across the room.

Li, the janitor, pressed the volume button and the TV by the window flared up with the voice of the female reporter, standing behind a crowd gathering in front of a long table where several people were sitting with a microphone and a glass of water in front of them. Zuko swiveled in his chair to face the TV as he noticed a pair of familiar faces: Lin, sitting at the middle seat, with a middle-aged brown-haired stubbly-chinned man at his right, and a young woman Zuko recognized as someone from Azula's college and as Lin's cousin.

"_Young Master! Young Master!"_ the crowd called wildly, as wild as the flashes of cameras and clicking of microphones aimed at them. Zuko nearly snorted at the completely polite and appropriate title they used for Lin, one that Lin hated so much.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Deep Forest Industry, Main Branch, Spring, One Year Ago, 12:28 PM) _

"Yes, the one in the middle, uh, Miss…?" Lin smiled friendlily at the female reporter whose low-cut dress and the fact that Lin picked her, Zuko noticed, earned the boy a subtle glare from his cousin.

"Ming Zuling, from Terrific Teens Magazine, Young Master", the lovely girl with cute pigtails, big amber eyes, and bigger cleavage squeezing in her dress sounded as perky as her visual appearance suggested. "Last month, your company announced that you will establish branches on several key Earth Kingdom cities and that the Earth Kingdom award-winning actress, Jin, has agreed to be your representative to Ba Sing Se. Is that true, Young Master?"

"Why, of course", Lin smiled brightly. "Miss Jin has been quite helpful with the negotiation and introducing us the more subtle and intricate culture of Earth Kingdom economics. My delegations have sent glowing reports of her assistance and crucial role in our success so far. Yes, people", Lin raised his voice excitedly as the murmur among the crowd broke out once more with twice the intensity. "I have just received a report from our representative and Fire Nation Ambassador for Ba Sing Se: the Earth King has agreed to let the Deep Forest Industry establish a branch in Omashu, Tian Shui, and four branch offices in Ba Sing Se!"

He inclined his head a little, reveling in the applause of the crowd. Ming Zuling the reporter bounced up and down, mouthing "Young Master! Young Master!" but her voice was drowned by the cheering.

Lin raised his hand in an attempt to quell the noise. "Please! The lady wants to speak."

The crowd laughed briefly and Lin flashed his winning smile.

"Young Master", Ming asked with gleeful grin. "Is it true that you and Miss Jin spent a romantic vacation in the Earth Kingdom Huang Hua Island?"

That sure stirred the crowd. Lin himself strained a smile and sipped his glass. "_Well_—"

The table rocked and, considering that everyone but Lin's female cousin and Lin himself reacted in mild surprise, and Lin flashed a very subtle sign of pain in his eyes though his face remained grinning (Zuko knew Lin well enough to catch the subtle flash of pain), the female cousin had just kicked Lin under the table.

The girl sitting beside Lin took her microphone and spoke to it with a tone bordering on cold. "We are here to answer questions regarding our expansion to the Earth Kingdom Middle and Eastern Provinces. Please keep the confine of your questions to the topic at hand."

The crowd sprang back to life.

"Yes, the gentleman over there, with the monocle", the girl pointed at the said gentleman with monocle and large sideburns stood up.

"A few months ago, Young Master Lin proclaimed his interest in buying out the entire Rose Garden Borough from the government—"

"Excuse me, sir. Question about the expansion only", the girl spoke louder but the monocle man simply talked louder.

"What we want to know—"

"Questions about the—"

"—is what you intend to do with—"

"—expansion only. Questions about—"

"—a significant piece of land with your thugs running around—"

"—expansion only… Question about the expansion only, please. Sir,—"

"—playing vigilante and taking the law to their own hands?"

"—questions about the expansion only!"

Lin raised his hand calmly, smirking. Silence fell upon the room, saved for the small clicking of cameras and electronic gadgets. The boy stood and straightened the wide sleeves of his formal robe. He smirked at the crowd and took a piece of paper the girl handed him and his microphone in each hand. "Thank you, Biao", he inclined his head at the girl. "I'll handle this."

There was a glint in his eyes as he prepared his voice; among those security personnel in the room that had shed blood and tears with him in the field of battle, they recognized that predatory glint. Some of them smirked a little at it.

"My secretary wrote me a speech that I delivered at the city council a few months ago; the event you mentioned, sir", Lin then asked. "Do you remember what I said during the conference?"

"Yes", the man replied, tapping away at his tablet while balancing a microphone. "I do. You said, and I quote, 'Until the government finally stops treating these people as second-class citizens, I, and those sharing my views, will not lay down our arms to protect the innocents. They may not be one of our own, but they are one of us, brothers and sisters all the same'."

"Indeed", Lin grinned, lifting his hand with the piece of paper held lightly between his fingers. "You know what, that bit is actually mine. I don't even need this", he lit the paper of fire and spoke with a tone of firm and force, one that those who had shed blood and tears with him knew so well. "Until the government finally stops treating these people as second-class citizens, I, and those sharing my views, will not lay down our arms to protect the innocents. They may not be one of our own, but they are one of us, brothers and sisters all the same. That is why I seek to purchase the land: to allow them, my brothers and sisters from another land, a place where they can live in civility, safe and sound. So far, we only provide protection and support. With ownership of the land, we will provide home. It is my hope that they can one day call our Nation home."

"But, Young Master", the man did not relent; he scoffed belittlingly, as if Lin was just a starry-eyed idealistic child in his eyes. "Those people are immigrants. They are not Fire Nation. What benefit—"

"Tell me, Mister… you know what, it doesn't matter. I don't wanna know your name, anyway", Lin snickered mockingly. "That's a sharp outfit you have there. Silk?"

"Yes…" the man drawled.

"And the buttons, beautiful work of art", Lin commended; the man looked down to his chest where his frog fastening were and, to Lin's delight, he flashed a brief expression of satisfaction. "Gold? Or…" Lin squinted at the man who was about ten feet away. "Perhaps brass?"

"Yeah", the man looked around a bit. "Gold. The pattern is from a family crest", he gestured at the obscure and artistic lines of golden raven-wolf on his robe.

"Of course, I recognize the crest. The House of Zang", Lin nodded and the crowd murmured excitedly at the information; House of Zang was quite famous. "By the way, that silk you're wearing: Earth Kingdom."

The room went quiet. The man gawked.

"I notice the shine; that's from Korkean silkworm", Lin turned to Biao who had been busy tapping on her tablet. "Oh, and the crest, raven-wolf? A creature originated from Salu Plain of Western Earth Kingdom. What about genealogy?" Lin asked Biao.

Biao snorted at her tablet before showing Lin the result.

"Lord Agni in heaven. Perhaps you should just show them", Lin grinned. Biao smirked as she tapped her tablet and projected a hologram display for all to see; the crowd gasped at the family tree of the Zang clan where many Earth Kingdom men and women dotted its branches, represented by green and yellow coins alongside red and gold flame of the Fire Nation.

"And so, Mr. Hypocrite", Lin had that victorious smug those close to him knew so well. "Do not ever lecture me about the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribe or the Air Nomad being inferior and different from us. You haven't got the right to badmouth _your_ own people."

Lin smirked one last time at the now pale-faced reporter. One other man from the crowd though was less civilized. "You're a traitor to our culture!"

The man sitting at Lin's right slammed his fist on the table. He rose and the man who shouted at Lin grew pale at the fierceness of the stubbly-chinned man's glare. "How dare you, sir…" he growled. "How dare you insult the man who sacrificed his childhood to defend our country… how dare you insult a hero…" he balled his fists and they cracked loudly in the now silent room. "You may not respect our Young Master's decision nor his achievement, but this young man…" he placed a hand on Lin's shoulder for emphasis. "…is a recipient of the Medal of Agni Flame, like his father and his father before him. He is a hero from a line of heroes. You will respect that!"

The man glared at them collectively. He held his glare at them still the rest of the press conference, all the remaining ten minutes of it.

When Lin found himself back at his car ten minutes after the whole affair was concluded, no longer in formal robe and top-knot, but in a more confortable garb and ponytail, eating some cheap boxed sushi. His eyes followed the various people who walked up and about the rooftop parking lot, rich privileged people them all, for the space was reserved for the higher echelon of the Industry.

His eyes was following an uncle of his –Lin had many of his extended family working in the Industry- walking down the platform towards a lavish looking dark red car when his passenger's door was opened and Zhang Wu stepped in, sighing as he fitted his rather stocky frame into the car.

"'How dare you insult the man who sacrificed his childhood…'", Lin frowned at him, popping a piece of inarizushi into his mouth.

"I've been taking acting classes", Zhang Wu grinned, failing to get a piece of sushi from Lin's box. "Anyway, it's official", he sighed deeply. "I'm a civilian now."

"I have a job for you", Lin offered, chewing slowly, looking ahead at the afternoon sky above. He parked his car facing the Caldera.

"I'm done with the fighting", Zhang Wu said solemnly.

"I know", Lin said, tapping his steering wheel lightly. "I need your connection, that's all."

Zhang Wu smiled mysteriously. "Then, perhaps, it is time I introduce you to them", he said, getting out of the car, but not before putting a White Lotus tile on the dashboard.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Grand Dragon Mall, Spring, One Year Ago, 04:12 PM) _

The dark-red speeder-car with pitch-black outline hovered into the basement parking space. Lin parked his car and exited it with Azula. "Are you alright?" he asked, he just had to ask. Azula had been really quiet during the drive. Quieter than usual.

The girl simply nodded and they walked towards the entrance. Passing through the automated door, they for a moment; Azula's cellphone beeped and she checked the text someone sent her. Lin looked around at the cacophony of people and light and stores. The wall and floor of the grand mall was tiled and marble, red, yellow, and black. On the center of the octagon shaped building, on the roof, was a grand skylight shaped like the insignia of the Fire Nation, made completely of a slab of golden amber. Golden sunlight cascaded down the fine establishment, adding a homey touch to any firebenders.

Lin was pondering the prospect of wondering the mall alone, for he had never done so in his life since he usually had Lu Ten or Biao with him, when he felt something warm and soft on the back of his left pinky finger at first, then enveloped itself on his hand. Around his hand.

Azula's hand was small in his.

He looked down at the shorter girl with a mild surprise that he hid well. "Why are you holding my hand?"

"I don't like… crowded places", Azula muttered, releasing her meek grip and looking away quickly. She moved away and strode quickly into the mall when she realized how weak her argument was; it was the middle of the week and the mall was quite empty. Lin walked after her and leveled his speed with hers, knowing he should not bring up the subject.

Azula was already thinking of many ways she would make Ty Lee pay; she should have known better than to take Ty Lee's advice! Mai was right; that one kiss at the hospital meant nothing.

Lin fought an urge to take her hand and go with her earlier attempt but his keen mind ran several scenarios where things could end badly. Luckily, a group of girls emerged from a candy store at the end of the block in front of them and Ty Lee bounced up and down as she waved, calling for them. Abruptly, the bubbly girl's gray eyes went wide and she dived behind Mai. Azula was glaring at her but Lin did not notice.

"Okay, so you girls need a chaperone?" Lin asked teasingly, earning him a loud boo from Ty Lee and her two older sisters; Mai remained impassive and Azula still averted her eyes. "Right", Lin caught the piece of candy Ty Ling tossed at his head, grinning. "Call me when the movie's over, okay", he said to Azula who nodded curtly, fixing her gaze at the lines of candy jars behind the store window.

The group left, chatting among themselves. The last thing Lin heard they said was Ty Lee's meek. "Azula, why are you looking at me like that?"

The sixteen-year-old entrepreneur made a beeline for the escalator leading up to the food court. His head felt light and his footing weightless. It felt like he was floating and he instinctively swallowed. Suddenly, he felt like drinking. Sighing, he forced the urge down and moved to a noodle stall where Zuko was. They found a table and enjoyed their dinner in relative silence.

Lin naturally suspected that Zuko and Azula had a fight or something.

But then, after Lin asked about Zuko and his new post, the younger boy began unloading his grumbling. He had just returned from a case he was working on: a small merchant found killed in his store. He traced what little evidence he had from the crime and scene and statement from the relatives and witnesses to a crime gang who confessed to being hired by a nobleman. But, without any conclusive evidence, they were unable to take action towards the nobleman and had to deck the case altogether.

"It's not like we can't do anything", Zuko put his chopsticks down on the empty bowl of his, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "The commissioner is a coward!"

"Of course, he is", Lin took his bowl and rank the rest of his ramen soup. Setting it down, he drank his orange juice a little and wiped his mouth. "But, the question is: what are _you_ going to do?"

Zuko narrowed his eye, the unscarred one, at him. "You know I can't do anything."

"You can fight, can't you?" Lin said simply, picking on his side dish. "You are an expert level firebender and swordsman, you have been trained in the use of firearms, and I know you took special ops training in the Academy."

Zuko frowned, not liking where this was going. "I am an officer of the law", he said curtly and cautiously. "I'm not a vigilante like you."

"I'm not a vigilante", Lin scoffed.

"Oh, come on!" Zuko snapped. "Do you really think it's that difficult to figure out? You were using that… that box gun before your Industry released them to the market."

"Box gun?" Lin snickered.

"It looks like a box", Zuko grumbled. "I know it's you under the hood. And you fight with a gun and a sword. Do you know how many people in the country who fight with that style?"

"Quite a lot", Lin guessed. "The style is quite popular among the Army."

"Exactly!" Zuko slammed his fist on the table; people around them were starting to stare. "Most of them are still active in the military. And how many of them can fight the way you do?"

"I don't know", Lin shrugged nonchalantly. "Anyway, I know about you eye."

Zuko looked like Lin had just punched him.

"Who do you think make sure it doesn't show on your record?" Lin smirked, picking up his fortune cookie and putting it on Zuko's tray. He pulled out his wallet from his pocket, put down several silver and copper pieces, and put a business card on Zuko's tray next to the fortune cookie. "If you change your mind, call this number. They are expecting you."

With that, Lin drained the rest of his drink and got up. He turned and, before he took a step, he said. "You haven't lost your honor or conscience, Zuko."

Lin walked away and Zuko watched him disappear as he descended the escalator. Sighing, Zuko picked up the card.

_Deep Forest Industry – R&D Department_

A phone number and address were printed below it in sleek calligraphy. Zuko threw it lightly on the table, watching it hit the edge of the tray. Sighing, he leaned back on his chair and looked up. Evening sunlight fell on his face through the skylight, his inner fire flared within him.

He wanted to fight…

Sighing once more, he returned his gaze to the table. Tall dream, he told himself. He was now part of the system, the corrupt ineffective unfair system that was the only thing that separates them from savagery. Scoffing bitterly, he picked up the fortune cookie and broke it. Putting a piece into his mouth, he flattened the small piece of paper inside and read it just because.

"_Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it turned into a butterfly."_

Zuko felt his chest swell. It felt like when Uncle Iroh tricked him into learning something deep and philosophical; the swell in his chest, followed by a sense of achievement and slight sense of euphoria, tinged with a dash of guilt.

"Oh, dammit", the young police officer muttered under his breath as he took business card.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Rose Street, Spring, One Year Ago, 06:46 PM)_

Azula was slumping lazily in her seat with a small paper bag on her lap. She was resting her tired head on the window, looking out on the twilight sun in the horizon as they drove towards the Caldera. There was a coiling pathway along the slope where any vehicles must take to reach the crater and Lin had just taken the last turn heading to the tunnel that led to the path when Azula spoke unexpectedly.

"Why did you kiss me?"

Lin had a hunch that she blurted out that question without actually wanting to.

Considering that Lin had ever kissed her one time, she must be referring to…

"You mean, at the hospital?" Lin glanced at her a little. "I don't know. I just thought it would make you feel better. Are you mad at me because of that?"

It was months ago and Azula had not shown any signs of being disturbed by the kiss. It was a chaste innocent kiss of sympathy on the forehead and, really, Azula had not shown any signs of even remembering it. Until that day when Lin picked her up from the University and took her to the mall, when she had been unusually quiet for some reason. Lin finally knew what the holding hands might have meant.

Her phone rang, a soundtrack from Power Rangers; she picked her phone up and Lin stifled a smile. Azula did not seem to care as she answered the call. "Hello, Mom?"

"_Azula, are you on your way home?"_ a woman voice echoed from the maxed out cellphone.

"Yes, Mom", the girl replied tediously. "We're going into the tunnel right now."

"_Oh, good, good"_, the woman, Lady Ursa, apparently, said. _"Did Ty Ren help you pick up some pads for your menst—"_

Azula flipped her phone closed, took out the battery, and shoved them into the paper bag in her lap.

Lin, who had numerous nieces, tactfully pretended that he did not hear or notice anything but the awkwardness in the car was so thick he swore he could take out his knife and cut it. Mai, sitting at the backseat actually did that, waving her knife in the air as if slicing something tough. Returning her knife into her sleeve, she fished out her phone and began tapping away.

"Azula, do you know why your brother sent me a message asking me about my uncle's bookstore?" Mai asked as they entered the grand tunnel made of carved stone that shaped like a dragon with opened mouth big enough to let a trailer truck entering its mouth.

"No", Azula grumbled from the front seat, crossing her arms, glaring at the artwork of the traditional Sun Warriors painting on the interior of the tunnel.

Mai tapped the keys and replied the text. Ten seconds later, a reply arrived. "He said he was looking for a children book: _the Tale of the Blue Spirit_", Mai read.

"That's his favorite", Lin provided an explanation, glad to finally be able to say something. Agni, the awkwardness was killing him.

The rest of their drive was as silent as a funeral and Lin was actually glad when they arrived at the parking lot in front of the Palace. Mai got out first, opening her door and carrying their bags with her; Lin was unbuckling his seatbelt, having the intention to see them to their door, but stopped when Azula did not move. Mai, perceptive as ever, said something about going ahead to sort their stuff in her room, leaving the two alone.

Lin sat back and turned to the girl at his left. "So…" he drawled, still feeling awkward.

Azula pulled out something from the paper bag on her lap; a small purple gift box with dark crimson bow, small enough to be held in her small hand. Lin took it, slightly surprised by how heavy it was, and opened it to find a small pecan pie made of marble inside.

"It's desk decoration. Or a paperweight", Azula said, not truly looking at him. "It's a thank you gift for helping us out. You know, when Zuko was in the hospital and all."

"Thanks", Lin smiled and, when he noticed this was the first gift Azula had given him in a while and it was not some weird eating utensils, he added. "I _love_ it."

Azula turned to him with narrowed eyes and, with a small smile breaking in her face, punched him lightly on the arm. She gripped her paper back, playing with the handle cord, and seemed to be struggling to with something as she threw her gaze around.

Lin simply stared at her with fascination. He had to admit, she looked cute when she was being awkward and uneasy. She was blunt and rational, her mind ran on cold-hard facts and knowledge and intelligence. She had little people skills and often fumbled with common courtesy and customs. Lin found that side of her endearing and, now that he thought about it, that was probably why he liked being around her.

Azula opened her door finally but, before she got out, she spoke still without truly looking at Lin. "Yes", she said quietly.

"Yes… yes, what?" Lin asked.

"Yes, it made me feel better", Azula mumbled. "And, no, I'm not mad."

She got out and closed the door behind her before Lin could say another word. He just sat there, watching the girl crossed the street towards Mai's house, holding the small paper bag to her chest.

Lin looked down at the marble pie and snickered. She was an interesting girl, if anything.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 04:59 AM)_

Agni, Lin was tired…

He closed his eyes and backed away until his back touched the cold wall behind him. He slid down and sat there, pulling his folded legs to his chest. He never felt this weak and powerless, not since he was a little kid. He was all about power, subtle power. Fire is the Element of Power; it is Life and Energy. Firebenders are prompted towards development of skills and strength, and Lin was no exception. He was more of a backstage player though, operating in the shadow, sending jabs and shots from his opponent's blind spot. Other would call him cowardly, a shame for firebenders everywhere. He called it fighting smart. He was always brain first anyway, a strategist in the field of battle, and brawn second, a warrior when the situation called for it. Warrior wins a fight, a strategist wins the battle.

He was a force of reckon, an invisible foe to his opponents.

And to think that he was now taken down by an invisible foe…

No, he could handle it, he convinced himself. He had taken few beatings but he could handle it. Lin breathed soft plume of fire through his nose. He repeated the process, expunging as much alcohol as possible.

Yes, he could handle it…

He exited the room with clearer head and a small tug at his conscience that he chose to ignore. The sight of Azula sleeping peacefully in the bed, shifting a little to get comfortable though, was both beautiful and heart-wrenching. Lin approached her and knelt by the bedside. The girl looked peaceful as she always was when she was asleep. She looked peaceful, soft, and delicate, and Lin loved watching her sleep.

Soft purr came out of her, lying on her left, her hair fell in a flock of silky smooth raven over her closed eyes. Lin reached to the hair with his finger gently and tucked it behind her ear, Azula stirred at his touch but did not wake up. Lin smiled and knew it looked sad; it felt sad. He leaned closer and pecked the Princess gently on the front cheek, and whispered. "I love you."

He kissed her again and breathed in the scent of her skin. Lin got up and moved to the couch, taking his cellphone with him. He lay down on the couch slowly, and typed a quick message to Biao.

"_You're right. I need help."_

He slept a little better that night. With better conscience.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 07:12 AM)_

The Manor door opened and Azula walked out first, wearing her usual garb, no makeup on her still tired face, and her raven hair in ponytail. Lin came out after her, wearing his usual baggy shirt and shorts, clearly not going anywhere. He held the girl by the waist and turned her around to face him. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips gently.

"Call me if you change your mind about lunch, okay", Lin said, holding her by the waist gently, kissing her one last time. And one more.

Azula simply grumbled, amber eyes half-lidded. Lin poked a tickle spot on her waist to wake her up; she yelped and pushed his chest, pouting with a hidden smirk. "Stupid."

Lin sighed and held her tighter; she stood with her head on his chest, small in his arms. Lin squeezed her a little, reveling in her warmth. "I love you", he whispered to her ear. "I love you so much."

"I know", Azula muttered in his arms, resting the side of her head on his chest, noticing his heartbeat. "I really enjoyed last night", she muttered softly. "So, don't…" …_worry_…

Lin frowned and pulled away a bit; Azula looked up to him finally. "Let's do that again sometime", she said.

Lin smirked. "Are you worried about me?" he asked teasingly.

Azula bristled a little. "I am not", she insisted, stepping away from his embrace.

"It's okay to admit it, you know", Lin laughed a little, catching her wrist as she turned away; his hand slipped into hers and he rubbed her soft warm skin, pulling her back into his arms. "I love you", he said with firmness and confidence in his tone.

"I know", Azula muttered back, chewing her lip. "I… do, too."

"You do what too?" Lin teased.

"…Shut up", Azula huffed, pulling away to link her arms around her neck so she could pull him down for a deep long kiss.

Lin watched her car leave the Manor and sat on the steps of his porch, with his face in his hands. He warmed his palms but it carried little comfort. A flamey-fly buzzed around him and flew to the palm tree on the front yard, eight feet away from where he sat. Without warning, he threw her arms, a knife sailed through the air and hit the tree. It bounced away with a loud clank, not embedding itself on the soft green part of the trunk as he had hoped.

It amazed him how easy it was back in the days.

Lin was young still, eighteen, at the peak of his teenage years.

He had been a child back in the days but a better warrior; more agile, faster, stronger, more cunning, smarter.

Deadlier…

Life of peace and tranquility had taken a toll on his skills, he had to admit. And, though he did not want to, he had to admit that one of the reasons he started this _mercenary_ thing, playing hero, was because he missed the thrill… the thrill of battle.

And he felt that right now, of the incoming battle he would have with himself.

He had trained and kept his shape the best he could but he had to admit that his drinking problem (yes, he had _a_ problem) was starting to take its toll on him. His muscle and bones remained strong and spry but his nerves and mind were troubled. More often than not he felt like an old weak man wearing a stiff armor in a fight.

He really needed to solve this.

Lin retrieved his knife and went back in. He was going back to his room to get ready for the day when he heard the muffled banging from Azula's room. On the hallway leading to the master bedroom upstairs, there were four guestrooms on the right and left, two on each. Back in the good old days, Zuko and Lu Ten would each occupy the room closest to Lin's while Azula and the girls the room next to it.

Their rooms were the ones on the left wall. Zuko rarely came there and had never stayed over anymore. Mai and Ty Lee came even less, usually when they celebrated Lin's birthday when they would stay over with Azula but since Lin purchased the Rose Garden, and making himself infamous among the noble houses, Mai and Ty Lee's parents had become a little apprehensive about their daughters befriending the cocky and arrogant nobleman. Especially since Lin had established himself as a bit of playboy socialite, according to the media, what's with the incident where he was reported to have climbed a flagpole and flashed his manly organ, they did not want their daughters to be one of his 'victims'.

Azula, during the few first months of their awkward renewed relationship following her finding out about Lin and his extracurricular crime-fighting activity, began to come and stay in the Manor often. It had gone on long enough for Azula to actually keep some of her stuff there; some clothes and grooming equipment, books and movies, her PSP and various chargers. But not her nightwear, not after they became romantically involved. She had always preferred to wear one of Lin's t-shirts.

Lin pushed the door open and the banging got louder. It came from Azula's wardrobe. Lin quickly went to it and opened it; Biao stumbled out, looking tussled in her red nightgown. The girl stood up, looked around, calmly tidied up her outfit and ponytail, and shattered the cool, clam, and collected front by snapping. "Where is that little witch?! I'm gonna kill her!"

"Please don't. She's the only girl in the whole wide world who can stand me. If you kill her, I'll never find anyone like her ever again", Lin snickered; Biao flicked his forehead.

Still huffing, Biao exited the room and to the one directly across the hall; that was her room. A four-poster bed was in it, with bright red sheet and cover, walls painted dark crimson with yellow line, with numerous blunt weapons –batons, wooden swords, tonfas, nunchucks, staves- of many kinds adorning the wall. Biao might not look like it but she was a talented fighter; everyone in their militaristic family was. Biao was only several steps towards mastering their family firebending art, ranked quite closely with Lin who was not sure he could best her in an Agni Kai, and she had taught herself how to use those blunt weapons from her collections mainly because she could not find time to properly join a martial art school or study under a tutor. As for her preference for blunt weapons, she had once said that bladed weapons would end the fun too quickly.

Again, she might not look like it, having the appearance of a beautiful but slightly tomboyish twenty-four-year-old, whose hair was dark and soft, and skin bright and unblemished, but she was a tough girl who was not averse to beating up men who wolf-whistled at her when she passed. According to popular belief within the Industry, Biao was the reason why Lin hired so many of his family members and employed many of his former army buddies in the security team: to keep Biao from hurting people.

Biao sat on her bedside, crossing her arms and still looked upset. "I swear, when I see her again, I will…" she growled and made a gesture of strangling a person's neck.

"Come on", Lin sat next to her and embraced her shoulder. "You said I should marry her", he reminded the girl. "How can I do that if you kill her?"

"I'm not gonna kill her. I'm just going to seriously maim her!" Biao huffed.

"Yeah… I prefer my bride whole and complete. I'm old-fashioned that way", Lin said, putting his chin on the girl's shoulder. "Anyway, I need your help."

"I know, I know", Biao grumbled, pulling out her cellphone from the pocket of her nightgown. "I got your text."

"You keep your cellphone in your pocket when you're sleeping?" Lin frowned.

"Our Earth Kingdom clients rarely understand the meaning of the phrase 'time difference'", she said flatly, shrugging her shoulder on Lin's chin. "You have standing appointment with Auntie Ming Yee. Eleven, don't be late."

"You're the best", Lin grinned, hugging her playfully. "And don't worry about Azula. I shall personally see to it that she pays for stuffing you in the closet. I'll molest her until she apologizes."

Biao looked at him dryly, flicking his forehead again, and stood up. Biao had taken her towel and fresh change of clothes from her wardrobe when Lin called again; the girl noticed a tremble filled with fear and anxiety hidden in the strength of her little cousin's voice. "Biao, would you come with me?"

With a hand on the doorknob of her bathroom door, Biao said quietly. "Of course I would. We're family."

"Thanks", Lin replied. "You're a blessing, Biao. I should have appreciated you."

"Yeah, you've should've appreciated me—"…_more_…? "Wait, what? Are you saying that you never appreciated me? Come back here!"

Lin was snickering his way back to his room. He took a quick shower and changed into a simple summer outfit; short-sleeved garb of dark with blood-red short haori with golden trim, trousers and boots, and a simple black sash.

His outfit was simple and, as he checked the clock, it was still nine something. Perhaps he could persuade Biao to call the morning off with him and he could bring her to Shirin or something nicer for a brunch. It had been awhile since the two of them hung out; they used to hang out all the time before Lin joined the Royal Dragon Military Academy when he turned eight, inseparable as real siblings rather than cousins. Lin was searching for his wristwatch in his nightstand drawer when he found something that shouldn't have been there: Azula's badge.

Lin picked up the red-flame-on-gold-shield badge and gripped it, feeling uneasy all of a sudden. Quickly, he grabbed his summer coat and got out to the garage. Texting Biao, telling her to meet up with him at the 11:00 AM appointment, Lin hopped on his speeder-bike, his rosewood-red Avis GS500, and sped away to the place he knew Azula would be.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Ran Shaw Hill,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 09:54 AM)_

On the plain below the tall iconic windmill on top of the hill, numerous picnickers were enjoying the early summer sunshine and clear sky before it got too hot to even walk outside. There was a family there: the mother and father were sitting on the picnic quilt, preparing their food and drinks, while their three children, one small girl and two older boys, running around playing tag. Azula, sitting in her car with her legs drawn up to her chest, watched the little girl laughing merrily, running after the two giggling boys.

"_Azula, come on!" Zuko stopped running, turning back to his sister who remained still. "You're it! You have to chase us!"_

"_No", little Azula crossed her arms, pouting. "This is stupid."_

_Her brother sighed. "Whatever. Let's play on our own, Lu Ten."_

_When Zuko turned to the older boy though, Azula ran up to him from behind and shoved a small plume of orange flame to his back. "You're it!" she laughed as she ran ahead towards Lu Ten. She took her cousin's hand and they ran away._

"_Not fair!" Zuko stomped his foot down and started chasing them._

Azula chuckled a little at the memory, wiping a single tear that slid down her cheek. Her cellphone buzzed and she picked it up from her dashboard; it was Ty Lee. She ignored it and put her phone back down. Sniffing, she hugged her legs tighter, gripping a small red hair ornament she always wore; her comfort object. Lu Ten had given her the ornament when she got accepted by the university, one of the last things he bought her before Lu Ten went to the war.

She remembered that time, the two weeks' time Lu Ten had after he was formally inducted into the army, before he shipped out to the Earth Kingdom for the very first time. He had promised Azula they would have fun every day before he had to go and he fulfilled that promise; Lu Ten was dependable that way. Lu Ten had taken her here. It was summer like this, and the sky was clear and the air was crisp. Lu Ten had organized a picnic, just the two of them. He had told Azula that this place would be theirs.

Their little secret place.

The first few days after Lu Ten's demise, Azula found herself wandering here on her own. She would get the Royal Procession to drive her here, ordered them to wait in the parking lot while she wandered alone here, walked among the trees, or she would ask Mai (who was then already old enough to drive) to take her here.

Her little secret place.

She shut her eyes and tried to beat back the resurging tears.

She would _not_ cry!

She was a big girl now, no longer a kid.

And yet, one single carelessness induced by sleepiness and the fact that she was not a morning person, reduced her to tears. Azula stared into her hair ornament and gripped it tighter. There was an unexpected knock on her window and she jumped a bit. Lin tried to peer through the tinted glass, pressing his face until his nose flattened. Azula chuckled inadvertently and miffily knock the part where his face was. Lin drew back and circled around to the passenger's seat on the left. Azula unlocked the door for him.

Lin settled in and turned to the cringing girl on the driver's seat who was hugging her legs and making herself small. Lin reached gently to her but she cringed, looking upset. Lin reached to her chin anyway, caressing her jawline a little and pulled her face towards him. "Hi", he called softly.

"Hi", Azula sniffed, burying her lower face on her arms resting on her knees.

Lin smiled a little, caressing the side of her face gently, stroking her hair.

"I'm not a kid", Azula grumbled, still refusing to look at him.

"I know", Lin said. "I've seen you naked, remember? I've seen some impressive lady parts there."

Azula abruptly drummed her fists on Lin's cringing and grinning self. "Stop that", Lin laughed, catching her wrists. Azula, crimson on her face, scowled and retreated to her seat, hugging her legs, and pouting.

"Come here", Lin tapped his lap.

"I'm not a kid!" Azula snapped.

"I know", Lin sighed and reached to her, pulling her to his side gently but firmly. "Come here", he said, sitting the girl on his lap. Azula, sill huffing, sat down and tucked her head under Lin's chin. "Wow… your boots are on your seat. You must be really upset", for Azula's biggest pet peeve was when people wear shoes on bed or couch.

Azula squirmed harshly a bit, Lin chuckled. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in. "I never treated you like a kid."

Azula pulled away a bit, looking into his eyes with condensation. "Really?"

_-0-0-0-_

"_Azula, come on, time for your medicine", Lin said, uncorking the cough syrup. The red-nosed Princess groaned and sat up from under her cover, looking faint and weak. Lin fed her the syrup with a spoon and she made a face. Snickering, Lin unwrapped a sweet mint candy and popped it into her mouth. He tugged her in her cover and kissed her goodnight on the forehead._

_-0-0-0-_

"_Azula, it's time for bed", Lin groaned, stirring up. In the bed, by his side, Azula, lying on her stomach, playing her PSP, did not seem to care. "Azula, it's late."_

"_Five more minutes", the girl whined, tapping away happily._

"_No", Lin jumped at her, wrestled the console away from the whining girl._

_-0-0-0-_

"_I thought you said you don't like this game", Lin said, sitting on the couch by the girl's side._

"_I changed my mind", Azula said, feeding her lion-turtle. "Yeees!" she threw her arms up, cheering. "I finally get enough points to buy a dragon!"_

"_Congrats", Lin grinned at the girl. "Woah, coldblooded", Lin commented at Azula deleting her lion-turtle she had raised since it was an egg all those years ago._

"_I need room for my new dragon", Azula said simply._

"_Still, it's a bit cold", Lin muttered. "Okay, aaaaah…"_

"_Aaah…" the girl opened her mouth wide, allowing Lin to feed her her morning cereal._

_-0-0-0-_

"Those don't count", Lin said, pulling the girl back into his embrace. "Besides, I like hugging you, and I like smelling your hair, and I like kissing you. That's why I like holding you like this. You just happen to be the perfect size for this."

"You're stupid", Azula grumbled, letting out a small smile, still gripping her hair ornament. Lin took it from her and fixed it on the knot of her ponytail. He took out her badge next and put it in her hand.

"I love you", Lin whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"I know, you said that already", Azula muttered, not wanting to move away from the boy's embrace. She felt small in her arms circling her body and it made her feel safe.

"Dinner?" Lin asked.

"What happen to lunch?" Azula asked quietly.

"I'm taking Biao out for lunch. Somebody has to calm her down after you ambushed her at night and stuffed her in the closet", Lin sighed. "You have to apologize."

"I know", Azula muttered, rubbing the flame on her badge with her thumb. "I'll call her during lunch break."

"Okay", Lin replied, sighing. He held her gently in his arms, stroking her arm. Azula sat demurely in his arms, sniffing her leftover tears. "I gotta go", he said, making no move to let go. "You should go too. You're late for work."

"Yeah", Azula replied, not moving.

"…"

"…"

"…No, seriously, I have to go", Lin said, pushing the girl away lightly. "I'm about to be late for an appointment."

"Your appointment is more important than me?" Azula huffed.

"Nothing is more important than you", Lin smiled amusedly, cupping a hand of the girl's pouty cheek. Suddenly, he felt the weight of his decision crashing down on him. He felt tired. "I love you."

"Yeah, keep saying that. It'll cheapen the words", Azula huffed again.

"Will it?" Lin asked, reveling in the fluttery feeling in his chest he felt whenever Azula was in his arms.

"No", Azula grumbled, settling back onto his chest. "Say it again."

"I love you more than anything", Lin complied.

"…Me too", Azula muttered softly, biting her lip.

It was the closest to a real full-fledged proclamation Lin would get and he was the happiest man in Fire Nation. Azula was finicky and quirky, and despite her frighteningly intellectual mind, when it comes to the matter of the heart and feelings, she was downright dorky and clueless. Being a close friend of two Fire Princes, Lin had known the little girl from back then and how different she was from girls her age, how cold and distant she would appear. A prodigy, a genius.

Sticking out like a sore thumb.

Azula was distant and emotionless growing up, according to Lu Ten, despite the several occurrences where she would display mild annoyance at Zuko or Lu Ten, or some tears here and there when something bad happened, and she would always revert back to normal as if she knew that reacting that way would bring her no advantage. Lu Ten had once admitted that it was why he liked to tease her so much; to make her show some emotions.

"_We have done wrong by her once",_ Lu Ten had said all those years ago at the Academy, during a time where they were punished for pulling a prank on a senior, in the storeroom where they were tasked with cleaning the rifles for the entire Academy. _"We abandoned her once, out of love and concern for her sanity. I wasn't there to stop it and I could never forgive myself."_

Lu Ten had died carrying that unresolved guilt.

Lin had made it his duty to care for Azula. Along the way, duty became… a privilege.

He loved every single thing about her: the sight of her, her smile, her eyes, the glint in her amber orbs, and the way her soft raven hair flipped in the air; the feel of her skin, soft and warm, like velvet or silk, the feel of her breath on his face as his lips grazed her soft pink lips; the scent of her, flowery and tender, like the smell a flower garden in the autumn air the moment before it rains; the sound of her voice, a subtle quality he had never found in others, and her giggle (not laughter; nobody's perfect, not even Azula) that set his heart soaring to the air; and the taste of her; her skin, her lips, her… everything, like the lips he was now savoring, he took into his mouth, licked with his tongue that was met by her own, sweet and luscious.

The five realms of his senses craved for her constantly.

And he loved her… the matter of the heart, elusive even for him. He loved her and, deep down, he did not know why. He just knew that he did and he did not care why.

"I'll say it as many times as you want", Lin whispered into her hair, pressing her head onto his chest.

"One more time", Azula said, smiling as she let Lin's comfortable chest lull her into deeper comfort.

"I love you", Lin said, kissing her.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Rose Garden Borough,_ _Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 11:05 AM)_

Lin stopped his bike by the bright red convertible speeder-car and Biao who was leaning her back on it, looking rather irate.

"What?" Lin grinned despite his nervousness. "I'm not _that_ late."

Biao, scowling, stood straighter, tidying her garb. For once in a while, she was not wearing her formal long-sleeved robe, and settled with a short-sleeved garb and a vest that bare her midriff and shorts under her light cotton tasset with one side tugged on her sash, and a pair of simple boots, all colored black and dark-red, the color theme of their clan.

They turned to the building in front of them, a fancy pagoda-shaped eight-storey building made of red bricks and marble, with roofs of black and a small flame-shaped insignia on the tip of the pagoda.

"I have been to the war", Lin began, looking at the building before them. "I have faced the worst the Earth Kingdom could throw at us; soldiers, war machines, earthbenders. I led our army and conquered the Western Earth Base in one day. I helped conquered half the Western Provinces. I pioneered the first regiment of special ops in the Army where we go places no one could or would. I led the Riders to sabotage the Wall of Ba Sing Se where I faced the elite Terra Team and the fearsome Dai Li. And now, I'm afraid."

"I know", Biao said, taking the boy's hand in hers. "That's why I'm here", she took the first step for Lin and he followed.

They entered the building and found the room on the fourth floor: _Dr. Ming Yee_.

The kind-looking old woman was gray-haired and rather plump, eyes amber and bright, and haired tied into a professional top-knot but she did not wear the typical white coat of medical practitioner. She wore dark and red traditional robes instead, looking like a kind grandmother in the middle of the circle of chairs where nine other people, young and old, men and women, sat.

Dr. Ming Yee narrowed her eyes somewhat at the late newcomer and gestured to one of the empty chairs. Lin sat down and noticed the stare he was receiving.

"Hi", he greeted, feeling sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. "It seems like some of you know who I am; so much for anonymous, huh?" he laughed nervously at his own joke; one of the women in the group smiled a little at him. "So, ehem… Hi, everyone. My name is Lin and I'm an alcoholic."


	7. Chapter 7 - Past, Part 3

**Chapter 7 – Past, Part 3**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Zhong Thu Plain, Spring, One Year Ago)_

Lin looked down the slope of the tall hill they were on and whistled. "Have I expressed my doubt in your sanity lately?"

"Not in recent week", Lu Ten said, putting on his goggle and helmet, sitting in a modified bathtub: hardwood and painted with flames and dragon head of red, yellow, and black, with a small retired jet propulsion machine he salvaged from a wrecked battle speeder-bike, and tiny wheels on both sides, controllable by the steering wheel he was currently gripping.

"I'm losing my touch", Lin griped, pushing the cart down with his foot.

Lu Ten screamed like a girl all the way down.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City - Rose Borough Garden, Four Nations General Hospital,_ _Summer, Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 12:58 AM)_

The sensation of falling always carried certain thrill to Lin. Four pairs of arms broke his fall, catching him before he fell down on his back completely. Lee, the Fire Nation butcher, Jinnu, the Fire Nation homemaker, Den-Mi, the sandbender 'good' gangster, and Rong, the Earth Kingdom dockworker (they all agreed to disclose their real names after Lin's appearance) pulled the boy up to his feet slowly. Lin felt like Darth Vader in the final scene of him in the third Star Wars movie.

The room exploded into a loud applause as they congratulated each other for the well done first day. Soon, they dispersed, leaving Biao and Lin who was volunteered to tidy up the chair and push back the couch and coffee table back to the center of the room for being late.

Dr. Ming Yee, the now-tired looking rather plump old woman, emerged from her office, carrying a bottle of fire brandy and three glasses in her hands. Lin gasped, dropping his end of the couch, causing the furniture to drop on Biao's toe, as he pointed an accusatory finger at the doctor who drowned a glass of her booze in one gulp.

"Oh, hush it!" Dr. Ming Yee snapped, pouring herself another glass. "I'm a therapist. I can control myself."

"Are you sure Auntie is the best choice?" Lin plopped down the couch beside Biao who eyed him dryly. Dr. Ming Yee put a glass in Biao's hand and filled it to the brim so naturally Biao said. "Yes."

Lin narrowed his eyes at them collectively, especially since the good doctor put a bottle of Xiang Guo apple juice in front of him. Grumbling, Lin took his bottle of juice and uncorked the cap. He poured the amber colored drink into his cocktail glass and picked it up. He took a sip and the two females smirked as they drank their beverage while looking pointedly at him.

"You guys suck!" he huffed, gulping down his juice and put the glass on the table harshly.

"Oh, lighten up", Auntie Ming Yee snickered. "You did well for your first day. I was expecting you to chicken out at the trust exercise."

"You always do have some trust issue", Biao concurred.

"Oh, excuse me? I thought the therapy is over for today", Lin snapped.

"Come on", Biao giggled, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"You haven't told anyone about the missing month", Auntie Ming Yee stated with a sly glint of a psychologist in her amber eyes.

"I have my reason", Lin said steely, staring back at the old lady in the eye.

Biao turned from her cousin to her auntie, feeling more and more uneasy by the second. "Alright", the young woman clapped her hands. "Auntie, we're going to have a lunch. Will you join us? It's been awhile since the last time we catch up."

Auntie Ming Yee turned her hawk-like stare at the young girl; she asked. "Is he paying?" the same time Biao said. "He's paying."

"I'll get my purse and lock up. You guys go on ahead", Auntie Ming Yee heaved herself up with ease and walked back to her office with her glass.

Lin and Biao, after the latter drank the rest of her beverage, walked back to the parking lot. Biao sighed and took Lin's arms as they walked. "You'll be fine", she reassured the boy again. "I'm proud of you."

Lin gave her a little smile. "You're drunk", he said, tapping her hands around the fold of his elbow, grasping them a little. They found themselves at the front of the building where their vehicles were a few minutes later. Biao settled into the driver's seat of her convertible, earning her a sharp stare from her cousin. Exasperating, the girl scooted over to the passenger's seat. Lin climbed in after her and they waited for their Auntie Ming Yee who arrived two minutes later with a summer coat draping on her arm.

Lin drove them to the heart of the Borough, the platform market where the Shirin Diner was. Lin felt somewhat relieved at the sight of the red mon gate that ushered the way to the stairway leading to the flattened hill. Auntie Ming Yee led them upstairs, greeted warmly by people of many nationalities. Biao and Lin held their comments on how bright and cheery she was when the old woman was interacting with those strangers.

A fruit vendor, an old man of Earth Kingdom origin, judging from his patchy and faded green garb and emerald eyes, flirted a bit with the therapist to Lin and Biao's horror. The old man presented Auntie Ming Yee with a shiny red apple and Auntie Ming Yee, giggling like a schoolgirl, pecked the man on the cheek; Biao covered her young cousin's eyes in time.

They made their way to the Diner and sat on one of the outdoor tables. Bara, who was having lunch with her brother Taka, approached their table and greeted them. Auntie Ming Yee seemed to be quite friendly with the female mercenary; Lin wondered if he had made a good decision in involving his family members in his effort to save the Rose Garden.

Baba came out later, bearing a tray laden with their usual without having to take any order. Auntie Ming Yee was most fascinated by Baba's asking Lin where his 'little girlfriend' was and why she did not join this lunch. Lin, a bit pink on the cheeks, said something about Azula being busy at work without giving up names. Lin pretended to be too busy stirring his bowl of curry rice to notice Auntie Ming Yee's sharp penetrating gaze.

"Stop it, you're creeping me out", Lin growled, taking a bite of a stolen sausage from Biao's plate.

"You never told me you have a girlfriend", Auntie Ming Yee probed, slurping her ramen from her soup spoon while waiting for a response. Lin gave no response. "You're feeling tired, aren't you?" she asked with a firm tone. "You're constantly tired. You can't get comfortable."

Lin froze. "How do you know?"

"Because lethargy is a common symptom of alcohol withdrawal among firebenders", Auntie Ming Yee stated plainly. "I'll prescribe something for you."

"I don't want pep pills", Lin muttered. "And I'm fine. I just have to let out some fire, is all. I can handle this."

Auntie Ming Yee's stare held fast for a few seconds before her eyes softened. "Fire Meditation will help", she said with a kind but begrudging tone. "You are young, Lin. Sometimes, you need to take things easy and let your elders take the charge."

"I haven't been 'young' since I was eleven, Auntie", Lin replied bitterly.

"Have you talked to your father?" Auntie Ming Yee continued.

"No", Lin growled.

"You missed your psychological debriefing by two years. You nearly died out there, Lin."

"I nearly died out there every day, Auntie."

"You came back to the Manor. You stop keeping contact with anyone in the family. You didn't even come home for New Year", Auntie Ming Yee continued.

"The Manor _is_ my home now, Auntie", Lin said with sharper tone.

"You're living in seclusion. You're pushing away your family."

"I'm talking to you, am I?"

Biao, who had been, once again, looking back and forth between her two tense relatives, sighed tiredly. "Oh, come on, both of you", she grumbled. "Can't we just go through one single lunch without anyone going through the depression-ville?"

"Fine", the other two mumbled. For the next five seconds, they ate in silence until Biao spoke again.

"Our family is so tense", she lamented, followed by the other two's agreement.

"So tense…"

"I blame my dad…"

"Your dad _is_ a bit of a stiff", Auntie Ming Yee agreed for once. "You got it from him."

"I'm not a stiff", Lin frowned.

"Sometimes, you are", Biao defended their auntie.

"Who is this girl?" Auntie Ming Yee prodded directly. "Do I know her? Have you introduced her to your father before?"

"None of your business, no, and no", Lin growled, stabbing a piece of meat with his fork.

"Hmm", Auntie Ming Yee grunted noncommittally and turned to Biao. "And what about you? How do you feel about this development? It used to be just the two of you against the world and now a girl has entered the picture and attempted to whisk your little cousin away. How does that make you feel?"

"She's not whisking anyone away", Biao protested. "She's a good kid."

"Aha! So, you do know her. Tell me, who is she?" Auntie Ming Yee went on with the offensive.

"Are you trying to pit us against each other?" Lin accused. "Can you believe this? Out own beloved aunt is trying to turn us against each other."

"Not gonna work, Auntie", Biao huffed, high-five-ing her cousin obnoxiously.

Auntie Ming Yee sighed. "I'm just trying to get to the underlying psychological factors that you may have missed. I'm doing it out of concern."

"You're just nosey", Lin accused.

"At least tell me this: is she a girl?" Auntie Ming Yee asked bluntly.

"Of course, she is!" Lin spat.

"Good", Auntie Ming Yee took a sip from her soup. "I don't mind gay people; us psychologists are trained to accept any kind of people. But, you're the heir of our family. It is your duty to be straight."

"Can we not talk about this over lunch?" Lin growled through his clenched jaw. "You're creeping me out."

"If you say so", Auntie Ming Yee returned her full attention to her meal. Biao and Lin glanced at each other covertly and ate their lunch with quicker pace. They barely gave the old lady time to wipe her mouth as she finished her lunch before they exited the diner and went back to their car.

Back at the hospital, Lin reclaimed his bike and sped away after muttering a quick goodbye to the two ladies. It was almost two in the afternoon and he did not really have anything to do. He let his hands guided the steer towards the tall hill overlooking the ocean at the edge of the Borough. A large stone fortress stood there, built in the style of Fire Nation one-building multi-tiered style.

The floors topped up in a vague pyramidal style up to the flat top where gun turrets dotted the outline of the gray stone building. On the fifth, sixth, and eighth floors were outdoor hangar where they kept lightweight fighter jets, and in the underground hangar they had eight empire-class starships. Tanks, both walkers and floaters (war vehicles with all-terrain wheels and anti-gravity system), and war steeds of many kinds raced through the training ground below the hill where Lin had stopped his bike. Even from the great height he was one, Lin could see Rocky leading the battle drill.

Two walkers led the formation, blasting rounds of red plasma at the makeshift pile of rock, guarded at the feet by four smaller floater-tanks, and followed closely by two armored cars with gun turrets at ready, and two units of riders each. Lin noticed the riders wearing red and gold full armor and was quite pleased with the sight. One of his proudest achievements: the under-the-table contract with the Fire Lord regarding the joint training with the famed Royal Procession.

Lin had little to gain aside from an enormous amount of money to ensure his discretion, at least in the front, while the cunning Fire Lord gained the insight into the battle strategy of the infamous Black Riders and had his most trusted men trained by them. Lin snickered at the thought. Fire Lord Azulon was a difficult opponent to overcome with wits alone but Lin was playing a different game entirely.

Fire Lord Azulon, like any other leaders with half a brain, had been feeding on the conspiracy theories circulating out there about Lin secretly taking over the Nation with his goons and through the economy. The contract for joint training was one of Azulon's ways to gain better insight on Lin and his Riders military strength as there was little he could do regarding Lin's standing both politically and socially; Lin was the heir of a most prominent noble family and he was a war hero, and, after receiving a humanitarian award, Lin and his effort had received support internationally. Lin had grown too strong in that front and one of Azulon's lowest points was when he had to shake the boy's hand in front of the media, commending him of his many achievements in the name of peace.

But, Azulon was bound to lose this game; Lin was not even playing it. Lin had no interest with a takeover or a coup, as outrageous as it sounded. It was one of his evils, his arrogance. He merely desired power. He was a Fire Nation, after all, a child of Life and Energy.

His power, politically and monetarily, had kept him safe and it afforded him to extend the same security to those he cared about. And he _was_ winning this game. Rocky, the project leader for this joint training, had reported that several Royal Processions who had trained with them had expressed dissatisfaction with the banality of their overly glorified station.

To be a Royal Procession, one must be a firebender, highly trained in the art and be at least at the expert level of the standardized military firebending style, and had served in the Army for at least five years and had been involved in combat. Upon applying, they would be subjected to a one year training camp where they were drilled mercilessly in the higher form of firebending, various firearms, sword, broadsword, and spear arts, and hand-to-hand combat. They would also learn the basic of emergency medical treatment, the methods of VIP protection, how to operate various vehicles and computer systems, and, with the consent and recommendation of their instructors, take a more in-depth course in stealth, bomb disposal, sharpshooting, elite firebending, and interrogation techniques.

The training was brutal and it was said that from every hundred applicants, only ten would make the cut. Lin had been very interested at the remaining ninety nine since Bara, who herself flunked her Royal Procession boot camp, told him the story.

"_What would they do? Reapply for the camp?"_ Lin had asked all those years ago, an eleven-year-old bored soldier boy getting acquainted with his newly appointed bodyguards.

"_Most would"_, Bara answered disinterestedly while cleaning her long-barreled heavy duty dark with red flame pattern along the barrel Antares revolver. _"They have to retake the training from the beginning, though. Some would just reenlist in the Army; their training with the camp is invaluable and they would mostly receive promotion upon reenlisting. Some would just join the private sector or the police."_

All those hellish training rewarded with the rank among the Nation's elite. The Royal Procession.

Five years in the Army, patrolling the Nation land and space, engaging smugglers or pirates, or the likes. One year of camp, drilled to the bone with various skills needed to be the best the Nation could offer.

Rewarded by a post in the Royal Palace, patrolling the hallways, chauffeuring the royalty, accompanying a public appearance. Accumulative six years of action replaced by boring unremarkable life as a security guard in the Palace. They were the finest warriors Fire Nation has to offer and they were reduced to mere security guards. Sons and daughters of Fire Element, the Element of Life and Energy, worked day and night patrolling hallway and making sure the Royal Family does not choke on their soup.

It was unthinkable for most people. But, it was the utmost honor one could achieve, to serve the Royal Family, and the money was good. Though, true warriors would get sick of it eventually and true warriors Lin recruited to their cause.

The Black Riders had never made it a secret that they were recruiting, a fact that Rocky kept reminding subtly at the Royal Procession training with them. Already some had expressed desire to join the Riders once their contract was over. And last month alone, they recruited fifteen dropouts from the Royal Procession training camp.

Their numbers were growing and Lin took comfort in that. What he was doing was risky. Azulon could easily slip a spy into his ranks even though Lin had nothing to hide. Also, his crusade was risky. By openly offering protection to the immigrants, he was literally opening an opportunity for the other Nations to send their spies. If the worst came to pass, Lin would be implicated and charged with treason or espionage. His Riders would be there to defend him or, preferably, to take care of the problem before it escalated to that level. And, should the other Nation and their spies intend to invade, his Riders, he knew, would take the lead and charge ahead.

He would be a hero once more.

The boy closed his eyes and breathed calmly, feeling his inner fire flaring to life.

He had not forgotten Ba Sing Se nor forgiven Earth Kingdom.

Given the opportunity, his Riders would trample the blasted walled city to the ground.

He was a little startled when his cellphone buzzed; it was surreal as he sat there on his bike on the road on top of the hill, overlooking the ground where formation took charge, decimating the blocks of rocks with their guns.

Lin took out his phone and saw Azula's smirking face with her eyes shifted to the side, a picture he had taken of her without her full consent, behind an envelope shaped icon, saying 'you've got a mail'. Lin opened the mail and read the subject '_good news'_, no content, and tapped the attachment. A picture of the content of a vending machine popped out. A packet of candies caught his eyes right away and it was doubly funny to his smiling face because he noticed part of Azula's finger covering the shot.

Snickering, Lin tapped his reply. _"I thought they discontinued Snow Mint. Get me some."_

Three seconds later, Azula's reply arrived. _"I've got ten packs. I raided Zuzu's copper jar."_

Lin actually laughed at this. Agni in heaven, he loved this girl.

"_Then, run! Don't linger around the crime scene. What kind of cop are you?"_

"_Relax, I left the jar on Mai's desk. You know Zuzu can't get mad at Mai."_

"_I should talk to my grandpa about taking every measure to make sure you stay on the good side of the law. Pick you up for dinner?"_

"_Not sure. It's Zuko's time of the month. He said we should go have lunch together, just the two of us. Luckily, someone stabbed a triad member at the North Park. He said we should get dinner instead."_

"_Need me to save you?" _

"_No. I did take his copper. And he usually takes me to this place, Hungry Dragon. They serve the best Scarlet Bird Soup. Want me to get you some? Zuko's paying."_

"_I can come down with a cold or something. Sure. There'll be Uncle Jak's waiting for you, so don't eat too much."_

"_Okay."_

"_See you tonight",_ Lin froze a little as a wave of frizz ran across his system. _"I love you."_

Azula's answer was a simple. _"I know."_

Snickering fondly, Lin put his phone back into his pocket and grabbed his steer, ready to resume his journey to the fort.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Zhong Thu Plain – Earth Kingdom Army Camp, Summer…)_

Captain Lin tightened his grip on the steer of his bike, feeling the weight of his armor and weapons on him, his metal plated leather armor of black and red, his battle jian sword strapped on his back, his handgun in the holster on his front waist, his throwing knives hidden on his sash, boots, bracers, and a rifle fitted on the side of his bike, under his right thigh.

Bara, on her bike in front of him, lowered her spyglass and nodded at him and the rest of their five-man team.

Lin nodded back and revved his engine a bit. He led the charge through the bush and downhill. The rest of the Riders teams, led by Taka, Rocky, and Rain followed their lead from their hiding spots. The twenty Riders sped down the hillside like avalanche and tore through the startled camp. They wreaked havoc as they passed, using hook rope to drag down tents and stable fences with them, spooking the steeds, and slashing and shooting wildly at the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

_(…three years ago)_

Lin spun the tail of his speeder-bike, slamming onto an unsuspecting Earth Kingdom who was aiming a rock at Lu Ten; the large rock fell with a loud thump and the soldier was thrown five feet away. Grinning at his compatriots, Lin picked up a small rocket launcher fitted on his bike on the left side and fired the scaled down sized device at the hill below which the camp was located. The rocket was small and was designed for convoy and armored cars, not for tanks, and lacked firepower of a full-fledged rocket launcher. But, it packed enough wallop to cause a small avalanche of rocks that induced more panic than damage at the camp.

The Riders took the signal and retreated, laughing and whooping as they dodged the angry rock blasts and green plasma bolts that accompanied their escape.

Lin grinned, his heart pounding with adrenaline. Wind flapped on his face, flipping his face. Lu Ten leveled the speed of his bike to his, playfully bumping the side of his bike to his, grinning. Lin grinned back and sped forward. He led his men past the line of cheering Fire Nation soldiers led by General Jiang, the proud father. Roaring on his komodo-rhino, General Jiang led the full battalion and their four walker tanks ahead to finish off the camp.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City - Rose Borough Garden, Black Riders Headquarters; Summer, __Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 04:58 PM)_

Lin dodged the first spear thrust and parried the second with his boken, a wooden katana. The spearman, the tall muscular man of average built was fast and good but his style was rigid and, unlucky for him, Lin knew it well. The standardized army style that focused on speed and precision, just like every martial art adopted and refined for the use in warfare.

The spearman brought his spear closer to him and spun it around like windmill, adding to his defense. Of course, the attack-attack-defend-attack pattern common to all military martial art. It is like a game, a field where two players meet and play with the same rule, going for the same goal. The best way to beat it is to throw the rules out the window.

Lin lunged ahead, startling the spearman and his instinctive but unrefined block; his straight slash collided with the spear shaft and Lin simply flicked his wrist a bit and pushed his sword past the spear, thrusting his sword, almost stabbing the opponent on the throat.

Gracefully stepping back and positioning their weapons behind their back, Lin and the spearman bowed to each other and the soldiers sitting around the tatami mats applauded. Lin snickered at Bara, the combat instructor for the day, and threw his sword at her. They went on a break and Lin moved to the corner of the training courtyard at the second floor where he had piled his outer garb, money pouch, and cellphone. Lin plopped down on the ground and leaned on his hands, sighing. A group of young recruits approached him and offered him a bottle of energy drink.

Lin enjoyed talking to the mercenaries well enough; the young ones of various Nationalities they were, united by the same goal, the same crusade.

"Well, it's easy", Lin answered the question of the most effective way of using a sword to a Water Tribesman who preferred a war club. "Hold the weapon where you're supposed to hold it, and hit people with the sharp part. That's it, really."

They laughed.

It was five minutes later that Lin excused himself and went back to his bike with lighter mood. Letting out some steam always helps. He felt the lightheadedness enveloping his mind that felt heavy as a rock. The urge to drink returned and he quickly started his engine before anything he could be tempted. It was a fort occupied by mercenaries; liquor of many kinds was in abundance there.

He flew around the Capital City, avoiding the main traffic. He did not want to get into an accident. He did not know how long he had flown when he found himself on the shore, kicking sand as he hovered past, and the sun began to set. He checked the screen on the instrument panel and his GPS told him that he was on the crescent-shaped shore near his home.

Lin swallowed hard and he felt tired. He slowed down and took his time to the beachside food court where Uncle Jak's stall was. The rest of the evening went by with him in a daze. By the time he arrived at his Manor, getting down from his bike with plastic bags filled with food, he could not even recall what he had bought.

He entered his house and put the plastic bag on the kitchen counter and dragged his feet to his room. Everything felt so empty and he felt so alone. Lin entered his shower and, despite the scorching hot evening summer sun out there, set the water to hot. He stayed there for an extended time, standing under the steaming cascading water until chill set in and the warmth normalized. He stepped out of the shower and walked to the mirror above the sink. He pushed his wet untied hair back and he almost did not recognize himself.

His face was pale, exceedingly so, while his body was red from the all the hot water; he looked like whipped cream on top of strawberry ice cream. Lin chuckled at the thought.

He breathed out steam and dried himself with his bending. Lin dressed himself in his homey baggy shorts and sleeveless shirt, and got out still with hair untied. He walked to his bed and retrieved his cellphone from the bed and walked downstairs, at the top of the smaller staircases leading directly to the kitchen, he saw Azula below, arranging plates and napkins neatly. She was a perfectionist, bordering on OCD, when it comes to things she could move physically with her hands.

Lin had this crazy fantasy of her as his wife, arranging plates and napkins for their dinner.

The boy chuckled. What a foolish thought, he mentally scoffed. Well, not really, another voice interjected.

Lin was eighteen and was two years older than most nobleman of his standing when they were supposed to get married. Most noblemen of Fire Nation are well-off and could afford marriage at such young age. His father had been nudging him with marriage and courtship since the day he turned sixteen in the warfront, bringing him often to visit the tents of generals and officers who had daughters his age. It had been horrible and a source of endless amusement for Lu Ten.

Lin scoffed one last time and resumed his descend. Azula turned and glanced at him a bit before she returned to her work. She was in the middle of taking out a cylindrical takeout container from Hungry Dragon when Lin embraced her waist and pulled her close to his chest. Azula felt the weight of his hug and stopped working suddenly. She was dense when it comes to people but not _that_ dense.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, rubbing Lin's forearms around her waist gently, wincing at the ticklish sensation of Lin pressing his face on the back of her neck, smelling sunlight, her skin, and her perfume on her.

"I have a difficult day", Lin said. "Please tell me you're staying."

Azula detached herself gently a little and turned around to face him. She had her thinky face as she tried to read Lin's. "You know what", she said, tiptoeing to peck Lin on the lips. "I have a better idea."

She turned around and began clearing away the table, returning food boxes into the plastic bags. "Come on", Azula pushed him slightly. "We're going to my place."

"Zuko?" Lin drawled unsurely. If Zuko even found out that he and Azula were in a relationship, not to mention even half the things he had done to her… physically, the scarred Prince would not hesitate to bring down the full potency of the Royal Family's wrath upon him.

"Staying at Mai's", Azula said, lining the two plastic bags from two different places on the table. "Go and change. Bring your sleeping clothes. You're staying over."

Lin did as he was told and met up with Azula in her car five minutes later, carrying a bag of his change of clothes. He settled in the passenger's seat and, as he fitted his seatbelt, he said to Azula. "I might have to go out tonight. You know, for my… night activity."

Azula frowned at him. "Are you talking dirty or do you mean your vigilante thing?"

"_Mercenary_ thing!" Lin huffed. "And, yes, that."

"Dirty?"

"Mercenary!"

"Oh… take a break tonight", Azula revved up her engine. "Your Fire Princess orders you."

Lin chuckled as Azula pulled the hover lever, allowing the car to levitate higher to the air, instead of backing up. The Princess had a pragmatic way of thinking. She travelled to the city by dropping over the cliff onto the ocean and sailed through the waters to the mainland. It saved time alright.

The Princess settled into the lower common traffic and, to Lin's surprise, did not drive the way she usually would, like a crazed demon on sugar high. They arrived at the Chestnut Stone, a pagoda-shaped eight-storey apartment building, cozy and located in the Wang Er District, a residential district many working class citizens of the Capital City called home.

Azula entered the basement parking lot and led Lin into the elevator. She pressed the button for the fifth floor and pointedly ignored the woman they were sharing an elevator ride with. The woman looked to be in her early thirties, had her raven hair in a feminine ponytail, and would look like an average woman you would run to on the street had her face not looked so stern and humorless. She looked like a soldier.

Azula cleared her throat and said audibly. "Are you sure it's just something he ate? Zuko did feed him some funky looking dog food. I told him that it might be a bad batch but he wouldn't listen."

"I have to take a look to be sure but, in my experience, it's usually food poisoning", Lin played along. "Our canine units at the war often popped green too when they had food poisoning."

"Thanks again for coming at this hour", Azula continued as the elevator dinged and stopped. The woman exited and a man entered, forty something and also looked like a soldier. He pressed the button for the sixth floor.

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor and Azula and Lin got out. They strode through the black carpeted hallway. Azula led the way and walked very fast the edge of her coat fluttered. She stopped at the red varnished hardwood door numbered 5-05 and unlocked the door with her keys. As they entered, they pressed their ears on the door and heard the sound of another door closing. Smirking at each other, they took off their boots and stepped onto the carpet.

The apartment Azula shared with Zuko was small but comfortable. The kitchen and dining room were joined into one. A small kitchen with a row of overhead drawers above it, with a double washing sink and an oven below, with a dish dryer set and a microwave near it; a wooden dining table with six chairs at its side and a refrigerator set near it; across the kitchen/dining space was a door leading to a bathroom and laundry room and between the tiled space where the whole set was located and the carpeted space of a living room behind the curtained glass door leading to the small balcony, were two doors on the right and left, leading to Zuko and Azula's bedrooms.

Azula flopped to the large puffy red couch on the living room and put her load on the glass coffee table. She reached to the remote on the table and turned on the TV. Zuko's large wolf-husky approached and sniffed the plastic bag containing their food and Azula glared at it. The large gray and white wolf-husky whined but Azula narrowed her eyes sharply. "Shoo, mutt!"

The canine whined one last time before he rounded up the table and moved to Lin who was seated at Azula's side, arriving with empty glasses and a bottle of orange soda he took from the fridge. The wolf-husky pressed its head like a spoiled dog its fierce piercing amber eyes and face did not convey on Lin's chest. Chuckling, Lin scratched the large head of the dog. "Hey, Avi. You miss me, boy?" he cooed. Avi howled and whined, as if attempting to talk. Once upon a time, a year ago, Azula got bored and began to actually teach Avi to talk. The wolf-husky could howl and whine with a distinctive pattern and cuteness that everyone was impressed about. Everyone but Azula.

Zuko had said that Avi could actually make some noise that sounded almost like human words. Azula's response was: _"Almost isn't good enough."_

She redoubled the training but gave up eventually. Lin found Avi's 'talking' skills quite impressive though; he could make a low howl that sounded almost like 'you'.

"Who's your favorite human?" Lin cooed, scratching the dog's neck.

"Oooouuuhhh…"

"Good boy", Lin grinned, feeding the dog a fries.

"Don't spoil him", Azula scowled, standing up and stretched.

"I spoil you", Lin argued, hugging the large dog like it was a harmless stuffed animal.

"Well, you're my boyfriend. It's your duty to spoil me", Azula huffed, draping her coat on her shoulder, whipping Lin's face lightly. She walked to her room and closed the door behind her.

Lin stoked Avi's soft and fluffy head, sneaking more food for him before Azula returned with her hair in her homey ponytail, wearing a comfy red silk nightrobe with golden trim and tasseled sash, and a pair of white bunny slippers. Her red lipstick had been cleaned off, leaving her lips pale pink. She looked effortlessly beautiful even when she looked as tired as she was now.

Avi dropped down and padded around the table to Azula's side as the girl plopped down on the couch, kicked off her slippers, and put her legs up and folded the couch and her groaning self leaning on Lin.

"I thought _I_ was having a bad day", Lin joked, pouring them drinks, and sat back, slinging one arm around the girl's shoulder. "Let me guess… paperwork."

"Congrats. Here's your prize", Azula pushed her head back and gave the boy a quick kiss.

"So, how good is the soup?" Lin asked as Azula detached herself to take the rest of the food out of the plastic bag. She held the soup container between her palms and heated it up with her bending.

"Almost as good as the one from the Palace", she said, taking out the cap, letting a spicy steam rise from the crimson red soup. She offered it to Lin and took a breadstick from another box. She dipped it in the soup and, smirking, fed it to Lin.

Lin moaned delightfully. "We're going to this place the next time we eat out. Speaking of the Palace", Lin chewed. "Do your parents know that you and Zuko know that they posted undercover Royal Processions in this building?"

"They know", Azula replied, stuffing her mouth with fries. "But, they're still acting like they don't know that we know and so we're pretending that they don't know that we know that they know. It's a contest of endurance", she frowned suddenly. "I think Zuko's gonna be the one who gives in first; he's always been the weak link", she turned to Avi. "I'm going to train this mutt to eat him in his sleep."

Avi whined and lowered his head.

Lin snickered and pulled her head to the crook of his neck, stroking her head gently before letting her go. "That should be interesting", he said, sipping his soup a little. "Hey, how come Zuko's staying at Mai's anyway? I thought Mai's still living with her parents."

"They are away for a summer vacation on Ember Island with Tom-Tom", Azula explained. "She had the whole place to herself."

"Well", Lin edged closer. "We have this place to ourselves."

Azula turned to him with mouth full of fries, holding her burger. "I'm eating."

"You're cute when you eat", Lin pecked her lips, smirking. He really did think that; he found the way Azula's cheeks got all puffed up as she stuffed her mouth full with food adorable.

They ate while watching the episode of some cartoon show Azula watched.

"So, who's cleaning this place this week?" Lin asked during a commercial, eating his burger.

"Ty Lee. Again", Azula smirked, sipping her soda. "It's getting easier to get her to do this", Azula said smugly.

Zuko and Azula's parents had done more than just posting Royal Processions to keep them safe and in line. They wanted them to live as normally as possible. Azula and Zuko paid their rent with their own money (although their parents, unbeknownst to them, actually bought the whole building and halved their rent without telling them; Lin knew because the previous owner was a relative but he wisely kept his silence), purchased their own furniture (although their parents' spies intercepted their purchase and made sure they got the best), and, of course, they largely ignored the hallway filled with undercover Royal Processions. Their parents have let up in recent months though, according to Azula, as some of the Royal Processions had left and some real civilians had been let in.

Although they mostly stayed out of their children's lives, Prime Minister Ozai and Lady Ursa still maintained a certain standard of strictness though. One of them was regarding the possession of household robots. Needless to say, Azula and Zuko had never done any housework before in their lives. Biao and Lin, who, despite being noble born, were never spoilt by their family, had spent a whole week teaching the two royals how to do the dishes, the laundry, cleaning, etc.

It would have gone faster had Azula not tried to manipulate them to do it for her instead. Zuko had lived on his own before for about a year. He had a roommate, a rather wealthy college student from Red Pearl Island who could afford a maid robot and he was willing enough to let Zuko use the robot to do his cleaning.

Azula and Zuko rarely were on the same page and the misery of housework had brought them together. They saved up the first two months of their salaries to purchase a maid robot and it arrived at their doorsteps in unrepairable pieces in its box. Azula and Zuko suspected their parents' involvement almost immediately.

So, they turned to Lin for help. Lin picked up a unit from a factory that he owned and showed up with messed up clothes and face, holding the head of the robot, the only part he could take with him as he escaped, according to his testimony, a group of masked men who jumped him on his speeder-bike and attacked him with fearsome firebending. They were military trained, according to his assessment.

Zuko and Azula had to swallow the bitter pill and did not indicate that they were aware of their parents' involvement, as with the other less than subtle things they did around them. To show is to admit defeat, Azula had declared.

And so, the weekend dinners they had with their parents had only become more and more awkward. They had all the wealth and comfort of life provided by their bloodline in the Palace yet they preferred this small apartment and false identities more than the palace where they were born where their very names carried enough weight to warrant a person's death.

Lin had helped them in the initial phase of them moving out as much as he could. Not too much though; Zuko's honor and Azula's stubbornness disallowed that.

Azula crumpled her burger wrapper and tossed it to the floor. She pointed at it and gave her command to Avi. "Garbage."

Avi padded to it, picked it up with his mouth, and brought it to Azula, putting it on her lap. "No… _garbage_…" Azula drawled, pointing at the trash basket near the stove. "Go!"

Avi whined and put its head on Azula's lap. The latter sighed and pushed the dog away. "One day", she swore under her breath, tossing the crumpled paper wrapper to the table.

"Robots are off-limits so now you're training canine to do housework?" Lin let the girl snuggled into his arm.

"It's going to work", Azula shrugged, eating her fries. "One day. I almost got him to say 'Zuzu' last time. In a month or two, I think, I won't have to talk to Zuko ever again."

"You are one strange girl, Azula Kai", Lin said, smiling fondly at her.

"But, I'm _your_ one strange girl", Azula smirked, pecking Lin on the lips.

"Yeah", Lin smirked, biting his burger. "Too bad I lost the receipt. Can't return you to the store now."

Azula chuckled as she elbowed Lin on the ribs.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Zhong Thu Region – the Battle of Tian Shui, Summer, Nighttime, Two Years Ago) _

Lu Ten roared and swung his battle rod in a wide arc, crumbling three simultaneous rocks the earthbenders sent his way to dust. The lieutenant sidestepped and Lin stepped out from behind his wider frame, slashing flame with his jian and shooting two successive bolts of plasma from his handgun, taking down the three earthbenders in less than two seconds.

Another earthbender leaped down from the high hillside road the two armies were fighting and down to the lower plain where Lin and Lu Ten, and the Riders, were staging their ambush mission. The very ground sank at the feet of the earthbender and Lin and Lu Ten knew what a powerful earthbender this one was; Taka shot an arrow to his chest, killing him instantly.

The two soldier boys sighed a relief but had to keep it short in favor of Lu Ten raising his rod to parry a broadsword and Lin his sword to hold against a spear. Two quick arrows from Taka took the two Earth Kingdom soldiers down. Up above, one of the tanks ambushing the Earth Kingdom supply convoy flew to the ocean below the cliff following a sharp 'plunk' sound of an Earth Kingdom 'puncher', the nickname for Corallium RL5, a feared rocket launcher of the Earth Kingdom Army. It was not as terrible as the following loudest and most horrific explosion Lin had ever heard though; someone shot one of the fuel trucks. A mushroom of dark smoke and bright hot flame emerged, drawing the attention of nearly every combatant in the area.

Bodies, dead or alive, all injured rolled down the hill due to the explosion. Lin recognized one and raced to it without any thought, heart thumping wild. An Earth Kingdom soldier tried to jump him but Lu Ten, following closely, shot the soldier down with his firebending.

"Hey, old man!" Lin skidded to his knee at the badly burnt and bloody Zhang Wu who was grimacing from pain; Lu Ten arrived by a screaming and burning Fire Nation soldier who fell down with Zhang Wu from the hillside path, bending the flame that was eating the soldier's flesh away.

"Old man! Are you okay?" Lin demanded, kneeling up and shooting flame at an opportunistic Earth Kingdom soldier who was rushing his way with a spear. His Riders fell in by their sides, fending off attackers while their medics flooded in to tend to the wounded. Bara came by Zhang Wu's side and began unloading her medic bag. She exchanged a glance with Lin and the captain rose to his feet and began his offensive.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Wang Er District – Chestnut Stone; Summer, __Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 09:15 PM)_

Lin sighed out loud as he turned off the shower. He wiped water from his tired face and stepped away from the shower space. Azula's bathroom was small compared to his; a four-by-four red tiled space with a mirror above a ceramic sink that was fixed on a floor drawer on one corner, holding a tray with a childish looking red plastic toothbrush cup bearing the likeness of a bearded cat that held Azula's toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste on it, and a shower on the far corner with no curtain or panel. A red marble toilet was next to it. There was a wooden stool near the sink that Lin was not sure the function of and a laundry basket that held the girl's dirty clothes.

Azula kept few bathing product for a girl; only a bottle of shampoo, a tube of facial soap, and a bar of scented soap in the space carved into the wall below the shower head. Azula's bathroom was the only one with a personal bathroom but the common bathroom outside had a bathtub that Azula was currently enjoying.

Lin let his bending roamed free, turning the water still clinging on his skin into steam. He bent down and opened one of the drawers below the wide mirror, extracting a fluffy red towel he dried himself with. He put on his sleeveless shirt and baggy shorts he put on the hooks on the door.

He looked for his toothbrush where Azula used to hide it, among her spare toothbrushes in the drawer directly beneath the sink, where she also kept her supply of… women stuff. He frowned a bit as he could not find it. He used Azula's toothbrush in the cat mug instead. He looked himself in the mirror as he finished brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth and he noticed how horrible he looked. No wonder Azula had been a little clingy during dinner, snuggling onto him like a spoilt kitten.

Azula never showed that she cared with words or big gesture; it was in the small, nearly unnoticeable things she did. The way she brushed her hand on his, the way she sat on his lap, hugging his neck while they watched a movie, the fact that she let him pick the channel they watched. And the light kisses and soothing smile she awarded him when the ads were on.

She made things bearable without uttering a single word.

Lin felt his chest rise as the breath he drew got caught in a dry sob. He was a mess. A real mess.

…_who doesn't deserve her…_

He let out a bitter snicker and tied his hair.

Lin attempted another smile on the foggy mirror and failed. He turned away from his reflection and walked away, getting out into the room that never failed to hit him in the visual perception. One who knew of Azula's status of a Fire Princess would imagine her room to be filled with flowers and satin, fancy silk cushion and expensive wooden furniture. Those who knew of her dorkiness as a computer scientist would think her room was filled with books and gadgets, tools and screens. Those who knew her as a cop would probably imagine piles of folders and boxes of memory cards, sorted neatly, and probably guns and bullets, and other police tools everywhere.

Her room, however, consisted of a queen-sized metal-framed bed with bright red sheets and dark red cover, twin nightstands on the right and left where she put her cellphone, guns, and badge, a walk-in closet right beside the bathroom door, and, at the window, was a study bearing her desktop computer. A pair of tall multi-tiered bookracks were at the right and left of the desk.

What made the room so uncharacteristic of Azula was the fact that nearly every inch of the carpeted space in the room was littered with countless number of stuffed animals of many kinds, shapes, and colors. The largest was a giant brown elephant bear twice as big as Azula herself –Lin once found Azula fell asleep sitting on the bear's lap on a patch of spring sunlight- and the smallest was a series of palm-sized animals of the twelve zodiacs lining up on the TV cabinet on the wall in front of the foot of her bed, next to the door. There was no TV there; not yet, according to Azula. She had made it her personal mission to guilt her father into buying her one.

"_To prove that he still loves me"_, Azul had once said as she put down the small rabbit doll Zuko had given her, completing her collection of the twelve zodiacs. The drawer underneath she claimed was empty but it was locked. Lin had spent some time obsessing over it but Azula was not an easy opponent to deal with. In the end, Lin gave up.

He plopped down on Azula's soft bed and buried his face in her pillow, breathing in her scent on it. He rolled to his back and picked up a random doll, one of the few she allowed in her bed. It was a husky wolf Lin noticed she got from Zuko as a New Year present. He snickered at the stuffed animals littering Azula's room.

Azula always complained about the fact that her mother always bought her stuffed animals as gifts. Her father, she had once said, was a great man in many ways but a few and those few, sadly, included awkwardness in certain areas in his interaction with her due to the fact that she was a girl. Azula once said that the fastest record of human sprint was unofficially held by his father when she broke into her parents' room in the middle of the night, crying because she was suddenly 'bleeding where she pees'. Prime Minister Ozai did not speak to his little girl for about a week afterwards and even after then, it took him an additional week to stop being so frosty.

In the area of gift-giving, he followed his wife's lead and doubled that. Azula's grandmothers were no better; Fire Lady Illah, while she appreciated the young Fire Princess' numerous talents, was a traditionalist who cared little for her worth other than as a piece on the political board game to be married off for advantage, and her maternal Grandmother Rina and Great-Grandmother Ta Min doted on her so much and could never see her as other than that little girl they only got to see on several occasions. The three ladies often gifted her with dolls, dresses, jewelries, all the things grandmothers give to their granddaughters.

Zuko bought her dolls too because they were cheap. Mai and Ty Lee, and her Uncle Iroh were the ones who rarely added to the ever-growing collection of hers. Mai preference of gifts to Azula was books and Ty Lee some ornaments or tiny porcelain figurines. As for Iroh, Azula would never tell. Zuko knew but he did not care enough about the whole affair to care. And, according Zuko, their parents knew too and their mother, more specifically, was not happy about it.

Lin had failed to find out what the locked cabinet held but Azula, after months of begging, pleading, and annoying, had said that she kept few of the gifts from her Uncle there, her favorites among Agni-knows-what. Azula was strangely reluctant to tell him.

And speaking of Azula, she just walked in wearing nothing but a towel and her hair secured up in a bunch by a hair claw clip. Avi padded behind her but at the threshold Azula turned around and ordered the dog to go away. The wolf-husky let out a pitiful cry that did not penetrate Azula's icy heart so he turned around and walked away with his head hanging low. Azula closed her door and walked in, holding her towel that she secured on her chest.

She looked lovely in Lin's eyes.

"I don't deserve you", Lin said, smiling a bit.

"Don't sell yourself too short", Azula said, entering her walk-in closet. Lin caught a glimpse of two swords –a blue jian and a red short sword- propped against the wall, and Azula's naked back as the towel slid down her petite form before the door swung closed. Naturally, he booed loudly.

She teased a lot.

Lin sat up straighter at the side of the bed, leaning back on the headboard. He took Azula's gun from the nightstand, her Spica revolver. Black with its model distinctive blue outline, with red ivory grip made of komodo-rhino horn. A small two-pronged insignia was carved on both sides of the handle. It was small but comfortable in his grip.

Azula opened her closet door and she stood there with her ponytail and nightrobe.

"No", Lin said sternly.

"What?" Azula whined. She was tired and wanted to sleep.

"No", Lin said again.

Azula grumbled and closed the door again. She opened it again few seconds later, not wearing her trousers under her nightrobe this time, hands on her hips, pouting. "There, I'm cold. You're happy now?"

Lin put down the revolver on the nightstand and lifted the blanket covering his lower half of the body. "Yep", he said, after making sure that he was. _Happy_, I mean. So to speak. It cracked a defiant smile on Azula's face as she walked towards him and dropped on him, straddling him and kissing him gently. Lin ran his hands on the velvety smooth skin of her thighs and put her down gently on her back in the bed, never breaking away from the kiss, the sweet sweet kiss of her lips.

Azula, lying under the boy, pushed him up a little, frowning. "Did you max out the air con?"

"Yep", Lin replied proudly, a hand wondering to the girl's breast, feeling her hardened nipple underneath her nightrobe, making a soft gasp escaped her lips that he promptly savored. "Wow, you _are_ cold", Lin whispered to her mouth.

"Pervert", Azula whispered back, nipping his lips a little as she squirmed to her side, turning her back on him. She felt Lin's right hand feeling her thigh up to her waist slowly, his left arm circling her frame by the waist, holding her gently. She smirked when he heard the groan that escaped his mouth.

"Panties, really?" Lin grumbled, tugging on the soft fabric, trying to slide it down despite Azula's squirming. "I thought we've agreed that this is a no-panties zone."

Azula simply whined as Lin successfully stripped her of her panties; the front of her robe brushing her feminine part sent tingle across her body. Lin rubbing her there through the soft fabric made her gasp a little.

She turned her head around as much as she could and Lin met her halfway, kissing her gently.

"Let me warm you up", Lin said softly, smirking as he nipped the girl's jawline, undoing her sash all the while.

His hands were magic, rubbing away all the stress from work and all as they touched her under her robe, meeting her skin with their gentle soft touch. He channeled his bending, sending warmth through his fingertips.

Azula moaned lightly as Lin fondled her chest, grabbing her respectably-sized breast in his hand gently, kneading the soft but firm flesh. Her very presence was magic, able to cast away the darkest of cloud.

Before long, the front of her robe was shed open, revealing her naked front; Azula instinctively crossed her legs as the cold air nipped her skin. She channeled her bending to keep her warm while hastily pulling the shirt off the boy who was on top of her, straddling her. They repositioned themselves; Azula felt all tingly from Lin's hands touching her inner thighs, gently parting her legs as he placed himself between her legs. Azula felt his hard member on her and she did not remember when he took off his pants.

Her hips bucked up as the tingling went through her back. Lin rubbed his member on her slit, making her crazy, kissing her lips gently. Azula let Lin take control; a little voice in her head told her to. A little change of scenery and setting, a little change of routine, and now letting him take charge, do what he wanted. That should do him good, ease his mind a little, thought Azula.

Also, she was feeling a bit lazy.

She linked her arms around the boy's neck, keeping him close but with gentleness; Lin's hands were under her head, stroking her head a little, and on her thigh, feeling up her soft skin, running up and down her waist. She let him kiss her gently, licking her lips. She opened her mouth and let his tongue explore her mouth, teasing her tongue.

The Princess slid one hand down, her nightrobe sliding down her shoulder restrained her but she forced her arms down anyway. She held the boy's erection in her hand and, wow, though it was not her first time touching it, she was impressed. It was not as big as that toy Ty Lee somehow got her hands on (figuratively and literally); when they were younger, there were times when the three girls got a bit… curious. It was smaller but, Agni, it was hard. And _hot_. Azula pressed it gently with her fingers, feeling the hardness under the surprisingly soft skin. Her other hand explored Lin's chest, absentmindedly tracing several faint scars of battle the boy had earned in the five years he was away, fighting for their country. Azula had never gotten around asking him about the scars, mainly because the topic of war would inevitable lead back to Lu Ten.

Perhaps, one day…

Azula felt herself growing wet down there. Lin rose and looked her in the eye. Azula swallowed a little, feeling nervous under his stare; stupid emotion, she thought, actually getting flustered at his smirk as he slid down there, licking and sucking her nipples on his way, and placed his face in front of her womanhood she now kept barred with her hands. It was not the first time but she still felt embarrassed.

She was powerless against his gentle hands, guiding her barriers away. Azula instinctively drew her hands to her chest, fighting embarrassment. She barely had time to sort that out when a surge of brief but pleasant tingle invaded her; one small lick on the tip of her clit made her moan. She felt her face heat up and she knew that she was blushing. Lin rose a little and landed slow small kisses around her womanhood, teasing the smooth skin around her pink slit. She closed her eyes now, wondering if she had made the right choice to show sympathy this time.

Lin picked up his pace with his tongue and before long Azula felt burst of cold around her slit, from her juice and his saliva on the surface of her skin meeting his hot breath. She shut her eyes once more and let the pleasure take her away. She tried her best, really, to keep her voice down. She was all about control and, although she was not averse to showing submissiveness to Lin, she would never give away control so freely and completely. She would always fight; Lin had to earn it.

And, by Agni, he earned it…

Azula let a delightful moan escaped her lips, mingling with her ragged breath. She lost control as waves of pleasure built up the more Lin ate her out. She felt wet. She felt exposed. She felt good, great even.

The Princess cried sharply as orgasm claimed her. She felt her chest rising up and down and the wave washed over her anew, like lying down on the sand as the wave ran past her. Lin did not stop and, though Azula wished for a little respite, she did not ask for it. She had submitted herself in his mercy now and Lin apparently knew it. He eased down and began adding gentle strokes with his finger on her clit, his tongue going lower and deeper, licking the inside of her vulva at first, and prodded the most sacred part of her that she, at one of her rare melancholic moments, had promised would be his.

Azula whimpered as the memory came flashing in her mind; Lin's devilish tongue stroking her hymen added more to her hitched breath. He kept at it with more gentleness than before; licking, stroking, prodding, teasing… it drove her crazy.

She came twice more before squirmed away, unable to give or receive anymore, clasping her tired legs together and rolling to her side; Lin slithered up, leaving trails of kisses along her thigh and waist, side and arms, up to her neck and face, and ended on her lips. She kissed him back tiredly, letting him suck and lick her lips mainly, tasting her own juice mingling with his saliva. Azula kissed him with her eyes closed, savoring until her own taste melted away from his mouth.

When it ended, Azula was thoroughly satiated. She sighed as she settled in, lying on her left with her left arm across her midriff, hands clasping with Lin's right arm that held her gently, head resting on top of Lin's folded left arm, her own right hand she drew back to Lin's thigh on her legs, calling for him wordlessly.

"Give me a minute", she purred. "I'll take care of you in a minute."

"Or maybe…" Lin paused to kiss her shoulder above the rim of her redundant nightrobe. "…we can try… _you know_", he suggested playfully, slipping his business in between her butt cheeks.

"Mmmm…" Azula moaned, drawing her head back to give Lin access to the soft tender, slightly sweaty, skin of her neck. "It's funny how I should remind you every now and then that I can shoot lightning bolt from my fingertips. Besides…" her right hand slipped between the meeting of Lin's hips and her lower back, finding that hard and hot part of him without any difficulty. "…you're big. I don't think it's even going to fit in me from the front. And you want to get my behind?" she pouted a bit. "I thought you love me."

Lin snickered, trying to kiss her face. "I love you", he said, kissing the girl's cheek though Azula did not make it easy.

It made Azula felt all tingly inside. In the ten months (give or take a few weeks) they had been together, Lin had said those three words and their variants exactly two hundred and eighty six times (Azula kept count) and, each time he said that, she felt that fluttery feeling in her chest. She used to condemn that; they enjoyed each other company both physically and mentally, and that should be enough. Mere words should not have that kind of effect on her. There was a time when Azula was hoping the novelty of those words would wear off but she had found that it had only gotten stronger.

Azula remembered the first time Lin uttered those words, pinning her down on the floor in the terrace outside his room, under summer sun in the afternoon. He had said those words, kissing her gently and she had smiled back, telling him that she knew.

It had not been the first time she felt like saying those words to him. Her every fiber of existence had been screaming, like it was now, willing her to utter those three simply words.

I…

…love…

…you…

Simple.

And yet, she had not been able to bend her mouth to her will, like she could not now.

But, she could not deny that she felt it.

Azula turned around and pushed Lin to his back, getting on top of him, straddling him, giving the boy the advantageous view of her robe hanging free down her shoulders, baring her front. She pressed down on him, chest meeting chest, and kissed him gently, holding his head with both hands and arms.

Smirking, Azula slid down to his thing. "Aw…" she said, feigning a disappointment. "I wanna see it when it's small. It's cute when it's small."

"Yeah… I don't know how to respond to that", Lin answered, grinning. Yet, Azula stroked the shaft of his erection with her gentle hand and took the head to her mouth, sucking and licking gently. She smirked a bit as she pleasured him, licking and sucking. Azula kept doing it but not all the way; she stopped after she felt it was long enough. She had just changed her sheets.

Smirking, Azula got herself up to the groaning boy, kissing the tip of his nose while gathering her nightrobe about her, covering her breasts though leaving her shoulders and huge amount of her cleavage open.

"Don't stop", Lin pouted, relishing in the view of the girl's face so close to him he could feel her breath bouncing on his face.

"You know", Azula cleared her throat a little, eyes darting down to his mouth. "I've been thinking."

"That's rarely a good sign", Lin smirked.

Azula narrowed her eyes at him. "As I said, I've been thinking", she gulped a little, feeling her heart thumping fast and hard. She steeled herself as she delivered her next statement. "I think we should do it."

"Aren't we doing it right now?" Lin smirked. Azula pouted and slapped him on the chest.

"I mean sex", Azula grumbled. "Real sex", Azula cleared her throat again and braved herself to look the boy in the eye. "Zuko and Mai are doing it. So, why shouldn't we?"

"Azula…" Lin started with that tone that Azula sometimes hated; he sounded like he was talking to a little kid.

"I want to", Azula interjected. "I really want to. I don't have condoms but it's my off period, so… it'll be fine."

Lin simply smirked; Azula gasped a little when he rolled her to the side, laying her on the back. He worked fast and smoothly placed himself between her legs, kissing her all the while. He brought his manhood to her slit and pushed a little, just a little, on her innocence.

Azula remembered the first and only other time this had happened; the first month of autumn last year when they found themselves kissing each other on their way up to his room from the front yard of his Manor. They shed their clothing, leaving a trail all the way to the bed where they found each other blushing and in their underwear. And when the last of their clothing were discarded, Azula remembered him kissing her all over while she battled embarrassment at being naked in Lin's presence for the first time, and she remembered crying silently all the time, letting Lin kiss her all over, kiss and touch her where no man had ever kissed and touched her before.

She had felt the conflict in him and she had not cared. She had not wanted to care. She wanted it to happen because she did not care. She was crying because she did care. Azula remembered when he had gone this far, prodding her hymen with his hard and hot manhood, straining his own desire to pierce her, to enter her, to claim her… to love her…

He had stopped himself that day, leaving her flower intact.

Azula remembered him kissing her one last time, telling her they should go to sleep. Azula had goaded him, at some point considered the option of insulting him into sealing the deal, crossing that line. Lin had smiled a little, kissing her on the forehead, the spot where he had kissed her for the first time, and he held her tight as they went to sleep, Azula crying silent tears and Lin holding her naked self tight.

And there he was now, about to enter her. Azula bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain that would bring about pleasure (according to Ty Lee). Lin pushed a fraction bit harder and Azula squeaked, balling her fists on Lin's back; slight pain mingled with minute pleasure, mixing with anticipation, and the combination quickened the pace of her beating heart. She felt Lin snickering on her neck and she slapped his back lightly, leaving her hands there, gently tracing the contour of his muscle.

He returned his kiss to her mouth, licking her soft sweet lips; Azula parted her lips a little, letting his tongue enter her mouth, his own tongue meeting his meekly. The affair going on down there made it difficult to concentrate. Over the months of their relationship, Azula could honestly say that, even though it was quite often they would playfully let their genitals come into contact, it was the second time she felt this way, the second time she let him come _that_ close to claiming her innocence.

Lin pushed a little bit more and Azula let out a sharp cry.

The night went beautifully for them both.

* * *

Dr. Ming Yee froze, sadly, in the middle of pouring herself tea. Her face was that of utter shock as the scalding hot brown liquid flowed down the floor.

"WHAT?!"

"Don't yell at me!"

"YOU DID _WHAT_?!"

Azula cringed, hugging her new stuffed turtle-chimp, her belated birthday gift, tighter, feeling like a little kid once more under the old lady's glare. Dr. Ming Yee slammed her cup and teapot down the coffee table. She looked like she was about to jump at the young girl and shred her to pieces.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City - Rose Borough Garden, Four Nations General Hospital; __Summer, Day 19, Month 5, Friday, 01:15 PM)_

"You never even told me you had a boyfriend!" Dr. Ming Yee hissed venomously.

Now, it was Azula who scowled. "It's not anybody's business! And you're my therapist, so you can't tell anyone!"

Dr. Ming Yee opened her mouth, ready to spit fire despite not being a firebender; a strange chocking noise came out of her as the words got caught in her throat. Azula held her scowl, not wanting to back down despite the growing fear at the back of her mind. Dr. Ming Yee scared even her.

The old woman sighed and her shoulders fell. "I need a drink", she muttered, getting up and stomped away to her office. She got out, slamming her door, and skipped through the space back to the couch across from Azula's. She uncapped the bottle of ember mead and gulped it down from the bottle, not bothering with the crystal glass she had got with her. After her fifth gulp, Dr. Ming Yee put the bottle down loudly, glaring still, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "YOU HAD SEX?!"

"I said don't yell at me!" Azula screamed back, feeling tears filling to the brim of her eyes. "What's the big deal anyway?" she muttered, shrinking back, evading the old woman's eyes. "I thought psychologists prescribe sex as tension release."

"For married couples!" Dr. Ming Yee scolded harshly, Azula cringed again. "You're fourteen, for Agni's sake! How do you think your father would react if he finds out?! And your mother! She'd kill both of you!"

Azula pouted, fixing her gaze on the edge of the table, feeling hot and wet in the eyes. "We didn't really do it…" she said in a small voice.

"What…?" Dr. Ming Yee growled.

"We didn't do it", Azula raised her voice a little and it came out sounding like a whine.

Dr. Ming Yee rubbed her temple, leaning back to the couch. She felt the full force of her age creeping up on her. Fridays were always slow. She had picked up herself a nice magazine and a pack of Earth Kingdom emerald grape soda –she had an apartment in the Rose Garden and frequented a grocery shop owned by an Earth Kingdom family-, and imagined her surprise when she found the fourteen-year-old girl sitting on her couch, playing a PSP. By instinct, she demanded to see the court order before she proceed with anything; Azula, much to Dr. Ming Yee's surprise, had said that she was not there for a court-mandated therapy.

"Tell me everything", Dr. Ming Yee growled.

Azula gulped nervously and cringed a bit, lifting her feet to the couch and curling into a tight ball.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Wang Er District – Chestnut Stone; Summer, __Day 18, Month 5, Thursday, 11:24 PM)_

Azula gasped again, crying a little, as she felt her slit parted. Painfully. A brief surge of sharp pain shot through her and she griped her covers.

Lin seemed to notice; he took away his manhood and settled down on Azula, kissing her fiercely as if to compensate. It could not have been enough of a compensation, Azula thought critically. She pushed Lin up a bit and had a hard time reading his face; she saw something that most people would register as kindness and understanding but her analytical and rational mind could not comprehend. Lin smiled and dived down to kiss her gently on the lips and, this time, Azula kissed back with equal vigor.

She linked her arms around him once more, rubbing his neck and back, digging her nails into his skin every now and then. His hands explored her side still, one ran up and down her shoulder and arm, feeling her skin, and the other her waist and thigh.

"Don't be mad", Lin smiled.

"I'm not mad", Azula grumbled, pursing her lips. "Dummy."

"Yeah… I am", Lin sighed, drying her tears that she did not know she shed with the back of his gentle finger.

"Dummy", Azula sniffed, drawing the boy closer to her, enveloping him in her small embrace, letting him envelop her with his wider frame. The warmth was sudden and Azula, despite her ineptitude when it comes to human emotion, knew that it was caused not by firebending or the meeting of their naked skins.

It was something Azula had been reluctant to indulge herself in. The last time she did…

…it hurt when people left her and not returned.

But, Azula told herself as she savored the kiss that made her shiver and felt the tear that rolled down her face to her ear, she _did_ love him even though she was afraid of it. Not of him, she could never be afraid of Lin; but, of the love she felt. It was a strange foreign feeling that made her feel like she was jumping down an airplane without a parachute or her bending to keep her afloat. It was scary.

She remembered the time after the first time they got naked together in bed, making out until the dead of night, the first almost-sex. She was mortified the morning she woke up without a single thread covering her, held gently in the arms of a naked boy. Azula had run away that morning, not giving Lin enough time to rouse up completely to try and stop her. Lin had called her several times and Azula ignored him all morning; at some point, she took out the battery of her phone but Zuko scolded her for it after he failed to get through to her from the crime scene.

At lunch, when Azula was distracting herself with her PSP and a donut she nicked from Ty Lee's lunchbox, Lin showed up and Azula ran. They ended up chasing each other all over the headquarters and Lin caught her at Mai's lab; the goth girl sold her out.

Lin and Azula sorted it out that very moment, decided to, as Lin put it, see where it took them. And, at the last month of summer that year, he took a photograph of her while she was enjoying the last of summer at his terrace, she chased him all over the house, and they were back there where he pinned her down and kissed her passionately, declaring his love for the first time.

Azula pushed him away gently, forcing herself to look into his bright amber eyes.

"_I love you…"_

_Say it…_

_Say it!_

"You're a dummy", Azula smiled a little.

"But, I'm your dummy", Lin teased, pecking her lips.

Azula chuckled and pushed him to his back. Lying on top of him, she finally pulled off her nightrobe and tossed it aside. Kissing the boy long and gently, she sat up, straddling his stomach, covering her naked breasts with her left arm, knowing full well of her left nipple peeking over her arm, while her right hand traced a line down the boy's chest to his well-toned stomach. Azula slid lower and position herself at his manhood, taking it into her mouth.

Now, _that_ was a compensation.

She sucked the head gently at first, running her tongue around the warm flesh, giving small lick on the ridge under the head; she knew he liked it. She went on for awhile before she took as much of him into her mouth. Azula picked up the pace and felt Lin growing hotter; might be why those girls in those adult movies Mai found in her father's study were screaming when they were doing it. Again, there was a moment when young Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai were curious.

Lin groaned and warned her but Azula did not care. She wanted it. Lin drew back despite her protest. Azula scowled a bit at him. "What?" she whined. "It's been awhile."

"Don't you want to…?" Lin started but Azula shook her head.

"I thought you liked it", she said, pouting.

"Oh, I do. I really do", Lin sighed, lying back down. Azula waited for no confirmation and continued her work. Lin groaned again as orgasm came; Azula took it all and swallowed it. It had been awhile indeed; she had almost forgotten how similar he tastes like—

* * *

"Okay, you can stop here, thank you very much!" Dr. Ming Yee raised a hand and stop the Princess before she had to prescribe herself a weekend of mind-numbing booze (might already be too late). Her sister-in-law Illah truly did marry into an interesting family. A distant and largely absent grandfather, a cold grandmother, an overprotective father, a stern mother, a carefree uncle, and a brooding brother… none of which had the ability to connect emotionally with this girl.

With family like that, Dr. Ming Yee was surprised that her little grandniece was not more messed up that this. Lu Ten was the only person who truly got to Azula and he was gone now.

_(Fire Nation, Capital City - Rose Borough Garden, Four Nations General Hospital; __Summer, Day 19, Month 5, Friday, 01:21 PM)_

"You can…" Dr. Ming Yee felt bile building up at the back of her throat as Azula handed her back the pen she was using in her (extremely detailed) storytelling. "…keep that."

"Hmm? Okay", Azula looked at the fancy looking pen with crystal and amber inlay, shaped like the moon and the sun respectively at the upper tip. It was a good looking pen. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here. Where are you going?"

Dr. Ming Yee ignored the girl and went back to her office. She emerged seconds later, fixing rubber gloves and squirting a tube of lubricant on her gloved hands. "What's that for?" Azula asked.

"Drop your pants", Dr. Ming Yee ordered firmly, throwing the tube to the couch. "I'm checking if you're still a virgin."

"Whoa!" Azula sprung up, arming herself with her turtle-chimp and her pen; she clicked it and the point tip jutted out. "That's a bit too far, righ— _eeek_!" she dodged the therapist attempt to grab her.

They spent about five minutes chasing each other inside the room. Furniture were overturned, potted plants spilt, Azula and Dr. Ming Yee staring at each other with a couch between them. Dr. Ming Yee, ever the impatient one, made the first move; she jumped with impressive agility for someone her age and Azula, shrieking, ran to the corner. Finding no other way out, she cringed at the corner, crying. Dr. Ming Yee stopped at her track… it brought a memory she had not wanted to revisit. Azula had been so young back then when she, the good doctor, by the stroke of luck and will of Agni, found her in the dark room no child like her should _ever_ be put in.

Sighing in defeat, the old doctor dragged her feet to the Princess, taking off her gloves to let the girl know that she posed no threat. She sat down by the girl's side, leaning on the wall. Azula took a peek from behind the stuffed animal like a scared kid and dived into her grandaunt's chest, crying silently.

"I can't say it", she muttered finally, letting the old woman stroke her hair.

"You can't say what", Dr. Ming Yee asked, still grumbly although her hand patting Azula's head was gentle.

"You _know_ what", Azula sniffed, wiping her eyes.

Yeah, Dr. Ming Yee knew, probably the only one who did. Azulon and Illah were hopeless as parents, Iroh was away, Ozai was awkward, and Ursa distracted; Lu Ten truly had been a godsend, the only reason why Azula did not turn out as messed up as she should have been.

"It's easy", Dr. Ming Yee placed a hand on the girl's chin, pulling her face towards hers. "Do you love me, Azula?"

"I do", the girl muttered, shifting her eyes, sniffing.

"Then say it. It _is_ that simple", Dr. Ming Yee goaded her. "Go on. Say it. Say 'I love you'."

Azula opened her mouth but her lips wavered. Her face scrunched up and she dived back into her grandaunt's chest. "Why can't I say it? What's wrong with me?!"

"Oh, Azula, dear", Dr. Ming Yee squeezed the girl, sighing. "What's wrong with you have nothing to do with this. Trust me."

Azula sniffed but bristled suddenly; did her grandaunt just confirm that there was something wrong with her…?

Azula rose and shot the woman an offended look; Dr. Ming Yee chuckled and tucked the girl back into her arms. They stayed that way for quite a while.

"Is he good to you?" Dr. Ming Yee asked with a touch of concern.

"Yeah", Azula sniffed, rubbing her eyes, hugging her turtle-chimp tighter. "And we really didn't do it all the way. Honest."

Dr. Ming Yee sighed heavily. "I don't know if I should be proud of you or mad because you let things go that far."

"I trust him", Azula blurted out before she could stop herself; she pressed the fluffy doll on her mouth to prevent more unwanted statement.

"You shouldn't", Dr. Ming Yee scolded the girl softly. "Not that much", she squeezed Azula again and pecked the top of her head. She got up and straightened her coat. "I want to meet him", she said.

Azula frowned. "That's against the code of ethic; a therapist must not get too personal with the patients."

Dr. Ming Yee's hands went to her waist as she sent the girl a withering state.

"Now that I think about it, a therapist shouldn't provide professional services to relatives or acquaintances. Are you sure you're legal?" Azula asked suspiciously.

Dr. Ming Yee gave her a stare that was equally dry. "Do you prefer some other old fogey prying into that little twisted mind of yours, then?" she poked the girl's forehead, snickering fondly at her pout. "Come on, up", she offered a hand. Azula took it and hoisted herself up, dusting her pants and still hugging her doll.

"You're not going to tell anyone, right?" she asked the old man unsurely. "I know what I'm doing. I can't take care of myself."

Dr. Ming Yee was so very conflicted; the big watery amber eyes looked back at her hopefully, tugging her heartstring. "Oh, alright!" she sighed. "But, no sex!"

"Thanks, Auntie Ming Yee", Azula unexpectedly glomped onto her. Sighing deeply, Dr. Ming Yee stroked the girl's head. "And don't worry", she reassured the old woman. "He's a good man. And he's not that much older than myself."

Dr. Ming Yee paled. "Oh, Agni… is he in his twenties?"

"What? No, eww!" Azula grimaced. "He's a teenager."

Dr. Ming Yee still did not look happy. "Is he nineteen…?"

To this, Azula smiled smugly and declared. "Nope!" but, she let out a genuine smile and restated. "And don't worry. He's a really good man."

* * *

"Are you sure I am?" Lin asked meekly.

"_Of course you are"_, the little hologram of Yue, sitting on a bench, floating above his cellphone he had put on his table, smiled. _"You showed restraint and chivalry… although, the fact that you actually went that far is already a cause to doubt your restraint and chivalrous nature",_ Yue added sourly. _"Maybe it's just the difference in our cultures but I was under the impression that you should be sent to jail for what happened last night."_

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Deep Forest Industry, Main Branch; __Summer, Day 19, Month 5, Friday, 01:56 PM)_

"Oh, really?" Lin said evasively, swiveling a bit in his chair. "No… no, doesn't sound right. Jail doesn't sound right."

"_Uh-huh…"_ Yue narrowed her ocean blue eyes. _"Why are you telling me anyways? Don't you have people there you can talk to about these things? Friends? Family?"_

Lin was a bit startled by the sudden question; friends… family…?

Zuko? Yeah, right!

Mai? Look above.

Ty Lee? She knew already and she was Azula's confidant, not Lin's.

Biao? The very thought chilled Lin's blood.

The rest of his family, his father, uncles, aunts, nephews, or nieces? He was never that close to them; being taken to participate in the war at young age did that to his relationship with his family.

The boys (and girls) back at the Black Riders? Psh! Yeah…

Baba? Though she knew that Lin and Azula were together, what's with the two kids often got all lovey-dovey at the Diner, she would have killed Lin had she found out even half of the (physically intimate) things Lin and Azula had done to each other.

Lin really had no one else. His office phone mercifully rang.

"Yue, I'll call you back tomorrow, okay", Lin said, eyeing the black cordless phone on his oaken desk.

"_Okay",_ Yue shuffled a bit. _"Talk to you tomorrow",_ she said sweetly, turning off her phone; her hologram blinked out of existence.

Lin picked up his phone. "Hello, Deep Forest Industry, Main Branch Office. How may I help you?"

"_You are so dead!"_

"… to leave a message, wait for the beep. Beep."

"_I know you're there, you dumbass!"_ Biao barked; Lin winced for rare doth his cousin useth the derogatory form of 'arse'.

"Hi, Biao, my most favorite cousin of all", Lin tugged on the collar of his formal robe, gulping. What had he done this time? Then, he remembered that it was Friday, the dreaded day when Biao was supposed to have her blind date.

Biao and the word 'date' should not be in the same sentence as the word 'have' without a 'not' acting as a buffer; the last time this happened, the police had to be called in.

"_Do you know who they stick me with this time?!"_ Biao began her tirade; from the honking, Lin guessed she was driving.

"Last time, it was a pompous noble with a mommy issue who stared at your boobs all the way through dinner. You had a lunch date this time, so no low cut dress", Lin muttered. "Um… I don't know. Some noble with unresolved— uh, wait, I know: a closet homosexual!"

"_Close; he's a closet cross dresser",_ Biao growled, and then she yelled at her fellow driver. _"It's called 'turn signal'; use it!"_

"Biao, I'm at the office", Lin said. "Do you perhaps want to pull out? I can pick you up."

"_Just stay there!"_ Biao barked. _"I'm going there!"_ she said before hanging up.

Snickering, Lin put down the phone and texted the sitrep to Aunt Bing and Uncle Kang, Biao's parents; they would want to know how angry this blind date they had set up for Biao had made her. Lin was contemplating whether or not he should lend the company credit card to Biao to appease her anger when he reminded himself that Biao was a tomboy and shopping spree had little effect on her mood, and he saw Biao's red convertible speeding through the sky traffic out his window. It was but a blur of red and the fact told Lin that Biao was really really pissed this time.

Lin got up and poured himself a glass— no, make it half a glass, of fire whiskey. His office was unbelievably large, bigger than Azula and Zuko's apartment; on the corner behind his desk at the left was a false wall panel leading to a partitioned space where a bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a panic room were. Lin entered the closet and changed into a short-sleeved summer garb and retied his hair into a simple ponytail.

He entered his panic room that doubled as his office arsenal. Surveillance camera feed graced the always-on series of holographic screens on one of the walls, left of the door. On the right, weapons of many kinds, traditional and modern, blunt, bladed, and small firearms were fixed on the wall mounts; below were 60 centimeters tall series of false panels that hid emergency bags filled with the basic escape/survival items -coins and credit cards, inconspicuous clothing and weapons, preserved food and medicine, etc.-, and cans of ready-to-eat food and bottles of water.

Lin took a pair of kali sticks and two wooden wakizashi from the wall. When he got out, Biao was already there, stomping her way towards him, struggling due to the long skirt of her formal robe and the high heels of her boots, nearly toppling over every three steps or so. She made a beeline for Lin's desk and took Lin's bottle of fire whiskey, chugging it down like it was a bottle of harmless juice.

"At least use a glass, you barbarian", Lin playfully scolded, regretting it instantly as the girl shot him a glare.

Huffing, Biao took a handkerchief out of her pocket and cleaned her red lipstick and subtle makeup. She let loose her feminine top-knot retied it into a ponytail, throwing her fancy looking hair ornament on the table. Still huffing, she undid her sash and let her robe fall at her feet; she was wearing red sports bra and shorts underneath. Heaving herself up the desk, Biao took off her boots last and rubbed her ankles, hissing.

"Was it really that bad?" Lin asked, gripping his fists tight as he flexed his arms and stood on his toes as he flexed his legs.

"You don't know the half of it!" Biao snapped, catching the twin kali sticks Lin tossed her.

True to her Element of Fire, and the aggressive style of firebending, Biao dashed and rushed her attacks without any care. Lin stood his ground and adopted the defensive stance.

Having practically grown up around Bara, Rain, and numerous tough women in the army, Lin had long ago shed the naiveté regarding gender. The first eleven years of his life spent growing up in his family had taught Lin that Biao, his only female cousin, was a tough female no one should trifle with.

Lin himself was responsible for Biao developing interest in weaponry. Before he went to war, Biao had already been trained in firebending and hand-to-hand combat, standard for their clansmen. During the war though, when Biao completed her study at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, Lin sent her back a war trophy as a gift, an ornate gold-plated mace with the head bearing the shape of a fist, a weapon used by an Earth Kingdom warrior monk of Sohei Sect Lin had defeated in single combat but later released. The monk had given Lin the weapon as a show of gratitude.

Lin liked it; a war trophy of a defeated by unvanquished foe.

Biao had expressed her delight at receiving such gift and set out immediately to find someone to teach her the art; Lin had scoffed at the idea, offhandedly telling her that the great secret of wielding weapons, any weapon, is to know which part to grip and which part to hit your opponent with. Biao had apparently taken this to the heart, studying with several masters when she could, and spending much time in the Ring of Flame, a sanctioned weekly freestyle combat competition open for public, where her instinctive style of mace wielding won her quite a renown among the regulars.

Lin felt he was being pushed back by the relentless lightning fast attack; and to think she did that without any warm-up. Lin was completely defending on reflex, not having enough time to think. He yelped a bit when Biao kicked him square on the chest, sending him tumbling backward to the back of the couch, stumbling to the fluffy cushion and bouncing back to his feet.

Biao leaped over the furniture and brought a double vertical slash; she was a gifted instinctive stickfighter but there was only so far instinct could get you. Lin, a fully-trained swordfighter flicked his wrist and pointed his sword at Biao's front while she was midair, jerking the sword a bit to show that he could have stabbed her chest.

The difference between an instinctive fighter and a properly trained one; an instinctive fighter learns from hands-on experience, sometimes without preparation. A blow suffered today is a lesson for tomorrow's fight. Sometimes, though, the blow is fatal and there is no tomorrow.

Biao sighed and admitted defeat, plopping down on the couch she had jumped over. Lin threw his twin wakizashi to the couch across the coffee table and sat on the table, pressing the girl's knee with a finger. "So", he started cheerfully; Biao threw her head back and put her hands on her face, groaning, her sticks lay on her lap. "Are you feeling better or do I have to give the movie tickets for tonight away to Cousin Rin?"

"You don't have movie tickets", Biao stated blandly.

"Yeah, that's right. Can you get us a couple?" Lin chuckled, Biao kicked him in the shin. "Oh, come on", he moved to the armrest of Biao's couch, embracing the girl tightly. "It's been awhile since we hang out together. There's a new movie coming out; _Flame Rose_. Lots of explosions in this one. You'll love it."

Grumbling, Biao got up and shoved her sticks to Lin's chest. She gathered her discarded robes and boots in her arms and exited the room. Lin picked up his wallet and gun (he had a permit) from his drawer and his cellphone from his table, and walked out after Biao. He found his cousin on the desk outside his office, typing on her computer while flattening and combing her long jet black hair with her fingers, no doubt purchasing their tickets online.

Lin waved and walked away in a more relaxed pace. The hallway, like his office, was of bright red wall and dark carpet. He found his way to the elevator, the sliding door bore a large insignia of the Nation and the interior walls were plated with slabs of bright sunny-gold amber. A small girl was there with her mother. Lin smiled at his Aunt Hua and playfully pinched his little niece's Ziwu's cheek, making the little girl giggle.

After a quick courtesy chat about Aunt Hua's work at the accounting department, Uncle Lee Ru's health after that nasty car accident, and little Ziwu's school, Lin held the door button for the pair as they arrived at the upper level where Aunt Hua's office were, waving back at the cheerful little girl and her childish grin and cheerful wave.

It would not be the first time Lin contemplated going back to the estate and visit his family.

He exited the elevator as it stopped at the parking space on the top of the building. His feet automatically went on auto-pilot, walking through the pavement to the rows of vending machines on the wall to his left. If asked, he would often say that the best idea he had ever had was to have these vending machines installed at the parking lots. They sold many things, from soft drinks and snacks, to simple reheatable light meal.

Lin fished several silver coins from his wallet and got himself a box of assorted sushi and two bottles of cold lemonade. He strode through the parking lot and headed towards Biao's red convertible. He jumped onto the passenger's seat and settled down, pushing the seat back and lounged with the sushi box on his stomach, looking up to the clear sunny sky of midsummer above.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, the Conquest of Zhong Thu Region – Battlefield Outside of the Walled City of Huang Jin; Summer, Four Years Ago…)_

Lin peeled his eyes off the summer midday sky and turned ahead to the battlefield a distance away from the hill where he and his Riders were readying themselves, sitting on his speeder-bike. He turned to his men and grinned; Lu Ten, stretching his shoulders, sitting sideways on his hovering speeder-bikes, grinned back. Taka and Sang Min, fixing their bows, nodded back; Rocky and Chey stopped their work with the explosives for a second and smiled back. Bara cocked her submachine gun and snickered at his direction; Rain fitted a long thick bolt on the long chamber of her unique two-chambered crossbow and nodded slightly. They and the rest of his men, upon him nodding back, mounted their speeder-bikes and readied their helmets and goggles.

Lin checked his submachine gun strapped and attached by a patch of Velcro to his chest, his handguns holstered to his front waist and both thighs, his swords, his usual jian and his riding heavy two-handed battle jian, and readying his long rifle that was strapped to his torso, clutching the handle and rubbing the trigger.

The young fourteen-year-old captain started his engine and sped ahead; his men followed behind. They sped through the dry rocky plain, struggling with their steering a bit since anti-gravity repulsion system was designed for flat surface and not ragged ground. Still, the Riders rode ahead, silent as they approached the scene of battle.

Melee combatants pitted against each other, weapons and bendings clashed fiercely; at their flanks, tanks and cannons, aided by firearms, shot bolts of green and red at each other. Fire Nation walker tanks had begun to gain more ground as they entered the fray, blasting the reserves of Earth Kingdom cavalries that General Hwang of the Earth Kingdom Army sent to intercept them.

And there he was, the elderly man with white hair and beard, clad in high ranking military uniform of the Earth Kingdom –breastplate, bracers, and shin guards of green with golden trim, engraved with likeness of rocks and mountains, pauldrons bearing the shape of lion–turtle head, wide obi secured by a metal-plated belt, and a cape tied up by a simple knot. General Hwang stood proud as he inspected the battlefield ahead, safe behind the line of infantries and cannons, inside a cocoon of translucent ray shield, on a watchtower built of woods and reinforced with earthbending.

It was too late for the Earth Kingdom general when Taka and Sang Min loosed their arrows; Sang Min's explosive-tipped arrow penetrated the shield designed to stop plasma energy, not solid material, and lodged itself at one of the portable shield generators inside the dome, and Taka's arrow bit the Earth Kingdom general on the neck.

The explosion caused an uproar that almost engulfed the panic of the Earth Kingdom Army losing their general. Lin let go of the steer and aimed his long rifle at the Earth Kingdom Army ahead, still a distance away, and shot as much as he could at the waning shield. His and his men's high calibers bullets, combined with the never ending bombardment from the Fire Nation tanks and cannons, and topped with the Earth Kingdom Army losing two more generators at the hand of Taka and Sang Min, weakened the shield severely. Before long, the dome of energy waned and blinked out of existence.

Roaring a battle cry with his men, Lin pushed his rifle to the back, letting it settle on his back, and reached for his submachine gun. The Black Riders let out volley of red plasma bolts at the disarrayed Earth Kingdom Army, causing more panic. They rode through and flanked the reserves, crushing the morale of those Earth Kingdom fighting at the front.

Accelerating ahead, Lin leaped away from his bike and let it crashed into a fuel container ahead of him; the truck exploded and caused a chain of explosions on the adjacent four fuel tanks. Kicking flame from his feet, Lin twirled midair and landed on his feet, firing away as the nearest Earth Kingdom soldiers while his Riders filed in ahead, some leaped down to their feet and began engaging the enemy on foot.

Bara stopped in front of him with Rain and both jumped down their bikes right before Rocky and Chey arrived. After nodding slightly at Lu Ten, wordlessly giving him command, throwing his long rifle at the Prince, Lin reloaded his submachine gun and led Bara, Rain, Chey, and Rocky to the underground command center on the bunker ahead; built inside a small mountain with the opening of earthbent wall. Rocky opened it quite easily and allowed the rest of the team to pour in, blasting any Earth Kingdom soldiers they could find.

They ran through corridor after corridor, lit by green crystals, and manned by a skeleton crew. They met little resistance all the way to the command center; a room with a earthbending door, guarded by two earthbenders that Rocky trapped to the ground, leaving their heads poking on the surface, with a circular hologram generator that showed the live feed from the battlefield outside, surrounded by computers for communication purposes.

The non-combat personnel inside threw their arms up, surrendering at the sight of the Fire Nation guns and blades. Bara and Rain herded them, and the earthbenders Rocky freed, out, Lin fished out a flash drive and stuck it to a nearby USB port; the software automatically kicked in, copying the intel from the main computer.

Rocky and Chey fixed their explosive in the meantime, rigging the whole place. The got out last, with the intel at hand. The battle outside had not subsided yet, not completely. The rest of the Riders had flooded in, subduing the area surrounding the compound with five personnel transports, loading them with captured Earth Kingdom prisoners and wounded Riders, with ten armored cars, the wheeled version, providing cover, blasting away at the defending Earth Kingdom Army with their gun turrets. Lin noticed that most of the Earth Kingdom cannons on ground level had been disabled, leaving the few smaller ones located on the hills, still alive and shooting at the incoming Fire Nation main force.

Lu Ten ran up to him and threw him back his rifle. Both boys ran to the nearest armored car and Lin ordered a retreat. The transports went first, escorted by the remaining bikes; the armored cars, with Lin and Lu Ten firing their rifles to cover their retreat, were last.

As they got away, out of range, Lin tapped his bracer and a small holographic display popped out; a simple red button. Standing in the cramped armored car, at both sides of the Rider manning the gun turret, Lin and Lu Ten grinned at each other.

"Do it, bro!" Lu Ten shouted over the roaring engine and gravels under their wheels.

"To earning our New Year holiday!" Lin tapped the hologram button; the mountain exploded, bringing down avalanche on the hillside, toppling the cannons along the hillside down and burying them under the rubble. The Riders cheered for the hard-earned victory.

"YEAAAHH!" Lu Ten cheered while Lin simply smirked at the destruction ahead, hand fingering the flash drive in his pocket.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Deep Forest Industry, Main Branch; __Summer, Day 19, Month 5, Friday, 02:15 PM)_

The weight shift of Biao entering the car startled Lin out of his daydream. The girl was once again in her casual summer attire; sleeveless garb and vest that bare her midriff, mid-thigh shorts with light cotton tasset with one side tugged on her sash, a pair of simple boots, all colored dark with red trim, and an analog watch on her left wrist and their clan's bracelet of white and black beads on top of it.

She caught Lin glancing at her bracelet and frowned. "I've been meaning to ask", she took the bottle of lemonade from the holder where Lin had put them, placing it on her lap while she tied her freefalling hair into a ponytail. "Where did your bracelet go to? I've never seen you wear it anymore."

"I lost it in the war", Lin said, taking off the transparent plastic lid of the sushi box and offering it to Biao. "Please forgive me?" he said, grinning innocently, batting his amber eyes.

Biao narrowed her eyes at him, finishing with her hair. "I'm not Azula who you can bribe with food."

"How do you guys know each other anyway?" Lin asked; Biao took the sushi anyway. To his chagrin, Biao simply shrugged and popped an inarizushi into her mouth. She put the box on Lin's lap and started her engine.

Lin was picking up a piece of sushi with a slice of tuna-bass on it when Biao asked him. "Are you coming to the Fire Festival next month?"

Lin chewed his sushi slowly. "I don't know", he said quietly. Biao glanced at him briefly before returning her gaze ahead to the traffic and sighed; inviting an heir to their family to a festival held by their family should not have to be this difficult and such a touchy topic.

They spent the drive to the mall with Lin asking Biao about the date, feeding her half of the sushi as she drove. Lin snickered at the recount of the ruined date, tossing the empty sushi box to the backseat. Truly, Biao was an attractive girl; her skin was flawless, her hair smooth and soft, her cheekbones were regal, her brows delicate, her eyes bright amber, her jaw defined, and her lips full and rosy, and she smelt sweet and fruity.

She was not like Ty Lee and her slightly round and cutesy face, or Azula and her delicate, almost childlike, beauty, or even Mai whom you need to stare at for five fill seconds before you could register her as attractive. Biao had the tough, almost Amazonian allure. She was not bony thin like most noble girls. Her arms that were outstretched as she held the wheel in front of her had some muscle definition and on her exposed midriff one could see some tone of muscle, all added certain strength to her femininity.

Perhaps, Lin thought, that was why men were afraid of her (seriously, they were!). Her strength. Lin found it extremely odd because he himself found weak girlish girl unappealing. He was born and raised in a family of warriors; beauty must come with strength. Perhaps that was why he was infatuated with Azula despite the many (oh, _so_ many…) reasons he should not.

Biao stopped the car at the red light and waited. She felt Lin staring at her and she turned to him. "What?" she asked.

Lin actually felt his eyes welling up when he reached to the girl and embraced her torso, pressing his head on her shoulder. "Seriously, what's wrong? Did Azula say something mean to you again?"

"No", Lin put his chin on Biao's shoulder, like a little kid, like old times. "It's okay, Biao. Even if you grow old into an old unmarried woman my children called Auntie Biao who sits alone in the front porch, handing out candies whenever we visit, I will still love you no matter what."

"…Eh?" Biao frowned; Lin leaned in to kiss her head, she dodged and Lin got her temple.

"Do you know that Azula hates it when I kiss her here", Lin said, smirking as he brushed the defiant strands of Biao's hair that escaped her ponytail, rubbing the girl's temple.

"Yeah, I know", Biao elbowed the boy a little, telling him he should sit back; the light had turned green.

"I never knew why; she won't tell me", Lin lamented. "Do you know why?"

Biao gulped subtly, feeling a jolt in her stomach (that, for all she knew, was the salmon roll Lin fed her; she could not stand seafood during the day, for some reason). Whatever happened between Lin and Azula was not her business, she knew, unless they were crossing some lines. "…No", she lied, eyes focused on the traffic. "Never told me."

What a pair those two made, she pondered.

Pressing a button at the dashboard, a lever shorter than the gear stick slid out slowly from the new opening on the dashboard. She settled her gear and pulled the lever; the front of their car tipped up and they hovered up to a rooftop parking lot of the Grand Dragon Mall. The easy-to-reach parking lot was reserved for special VIP guests and sometimes available for paying visitors who called ahead. Biao called ahead.

As she eased her car into one of the many spot, she found herself thinking about her cousin's reluctance to use this privilege; it's not like Lin could not afford it. Lin had once said that using the normal means and space of parking was his way to experience normal life. Biao then reminded herself that Lin had never had a normal life.

The boy spent his coming-of-age in the warfront and, when he returned, he worked hard to build his Industry. Her cousin, she thought as she watched Lin collect their empty sushi box and lemonade bottles, had never had a normal life, he had never felt what it was like to be a normal teenager.

Lin threw their trash on the nearby trashcan and was a bit surprised when Biao slipped her hand into his.

"You know", she started, grabbing his elbow with her free hand. "I am curious about you and Azula. How exactly did you guys start… you know?"

Lin snickered as the memory flashed in his mind.

"Good question", he said as they entered the elevator that took them down to the food court; Biao pressed the button. There was no way Lin could buy his way back to her good side with just a lousy vending machine sushi. They had time anyway.

Lin evaded the question wholeheartedly, even after they found themselves sitting at a small round table at _EarthBen's_, a rather quaint pizza parlor famous for its wide selection of Earth Kingdom toppings and notorious for its slow service; it normally took nearly half an hour to get their order ready. Half an hour of dodging questions.

"For the last time", Lin paused, thanking the waitress who came bearing their meat lover pizza, the meat was Earth Kingdom pheasant-pork, hen-pork, and elephant-beef, and the cheese was also imported and of Earth Kingdom, and, by that time, they had to order second glasses of Earth Kingdom emerald grape soda; Lin waited until the waitress went to fetch their new drinks before he continued. "We haven't done anything (_that far_, he added mentally). Azula is still pure; I checked when she was asleep."

Biao kicked him under the table. "I like Azula; she's adorable and so innocent, like a cranky pet kitten I've never had. I must warn you that if you mistreat her in any way, I will destroy you."

Lin smirked but somehow he believed that Biao was not kidding and, true enough, Biao was the only person with enough power over him to destroy him: she knew about all his financial assets and had access to them all.

"I really care about her", Lin said earnestly. "I even… love her", he said the last part sheepishly.

Biao's eyes widened in a twitch; she actually believed what Lin had just said.

"I know that Azula is probably not someone you want to bring home to your parents, but screw that!" Lin took a sip of his glass and picked up a piece of pizza. "She's the real thing. And she's probably the only person who's not blood who can stand me. So, you know…"

Biao's mouth parted slightly. "Wow…" she sighed.

"Yep", Lin smirked, taking a bite of his pizza.

Biao narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinizing him. In the end, she sighed and picked up a slice of pizza.

Her little cousin was growing up right before her eyes.

She sighed again.

"So, that being said", Lin cleared his throat. "Azula can sleep in my room from now on, right?"

Biao's pizza stopped midair. "Don't push your luck."

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, the Conquest of Zhong Thu Region –the Walled City of Huang Jin; Autumn, Four Years Ago… Three Months after the City Fell and Conquered by the Fire Nation)_

Lin and Lu Ten ran across the parapet of the rugged wall. From the outside, the whole city looked like an inactive volcano; the crater and the inconspicuous holes on the hillside where cannons were fixed acted as the first line of defense, the wall. The whole city itself was one of the last few ancient underground cities in existence, with the Royal Palace built inside the crater, much like the Fire Nation Caldera City, and the rest of the city built inside the inactive volcano below the Palace. The Royal Palace had the access to the sky; the rest of the city made use of the many earthbending exits at the base of the mountain to get in and out of the city.

"There they are", Lu Ten said, looking through his spyglass, pointing it at the cloud dust ahead, coming at them. "Still out of range of our cannons."

Lin tapped his bracer and a long rectangular box with a bar of wavelength appeared. "Bara, send the fighter jets", he commanded.

"_Roger that",_ Bara's voice came out as the wavelength rippled.

In a span of seconds, two full squadrons of Fire Nation fighter jets, small one-man lightweight airplane that resembled the Nation insignia, red with black outline, soared across the sky above, climbing to a high altitude.

The jets flew towards the incoming Earth Kingdom tanks convoy and dropped the one single bomb each plane could carry and arched higher and circled around while the bombs blasted the convoy below.

Soldiers around Lin, including Lu Ten cheered as the damage of catastrophic proportion was inflicted upon the Earth Kingdom soldiers. Lin grinned at the success of their defense maneuver and, the moment he felt his face strained by the smile, he stopped, feeling horrified.

Lu Ten, still laughing, turned to him and Lin saw his own smile melted. The young Fire Prince turned around and looked at the cheering soldiers around them. When he turned back to Lin, the latter knew that the expression of horror was also on his face.

"We need to go home", Lu Ten said quietly. "We're turning into soldiers."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Grand Dragon Mall; __Summer, Day 19, Month 5, Friday, 06:14 PM)_

Biao linked her arms on Lin's as they got out of the movie theatre; the latter was yawning. Lin felt his heart racing and, Agni, he wanted to drink…

It was not so bad anymore, he thought. He remembered the first time he watched a war movie after he returned from the real war; he had had a lot catching up with the movies while he was gone, especially since he reached the coming-of-age while he was in the warfront, allowing more options of audio-visual entertainment for him. He remembered his heart quickening so hard, adrenaline pumping without it needing to, his palms sweating, and he turned off the TV before he felt the urge to run into his room and hide under his bed.

Biao grasped his hand but did not say anything. Lin had never told anyone about this; he hated the label PTSD. He considered it a sign of weakness. Biao led him to the food court where they got themselves dinner takeout from the _Onion Top Soup_ and then to the parking lot.

Biao drove to her apartment in the Pearl Island District, a high-end residential district located at the northern part of the main island. The apartment complex, Golden Tower, was quite luxurious, plated with sunny yellow marble from the outside, with roofs of saffron tiles. Biao had a place still in their family estate where she spent her weekends, and she had a room in Dragon Pearl Manor which she frequented quite often in the few first months of the Industry, and, after they took off and she realized how handsomely she was being paid, Biao had set out to find her own place. Her father spoilt her a little and had insisted that he should take care of Biao's rent and that she should get an apartment in a safer part of the city, despite the price.

Over the months, Biao had grown wary of her cousin; she did not like seeing him living all alone like a hermit in his Manor in the isolated part of the island. Biao thought it would be nice if Lin spent the night at her place, a change of routine, which was why she drove to her place instead. Lin did not seem to mind as he voiced no opinion whatsoever.

Biao parked her car in the basement parking lot and, with Lin on tow, headed to the elevator.

"Take me home tonight?" Lin asked as they rode the elevator and exited to the seventh floor.

"You shouldn't go out tonight", Biao said, stepping out to the carpeted hallway.

The whole sixth and seventh floors, and the eight penthouse suites on the eighth floor were owned by the Industry and used by some of the higher echelon of the Industry as a residential place. Uncle Kang, Biao's dad, was the one who came up with the idea, saying that Lin should keep the family together. Biao shared the seventh floor with some of their uncles, aunts, and cousins who also worked in the company, and a couple of non-relative fellow employees. The penthouse units upstairs were occupied by some of the higher-ranking departmental directors and two were left empty to accommodate visiting foreign business clients.

The arrived at the room 8-04 and Biao pressed her thumb on the pad where the door handle would normally be. The panel scanned her thumbprint and beeped; the door slid open smoothly.

They entered a lavish looking spacious apartment twice bigger than Azula and Zuko's. Kitchen counter surrounded by fully-equipped built-in apparatus, across the hallway were glass panels leading to a bathroom and a laundry space, and ahead was a block of wall that separated the rooms and the kitchen, a fridge and a small counter bearing a set of microwave, toaster, and rice cooker were set on it. A small hallway led to three doors, two on the side and one at the end of the hallway, and on the wall at the sides of the hallway was a study with a desktop computer at the left and a TV mounted on the wall at the right. The living room took almost a quarter of the entire hardwood-floored space, furnished with a set of couch and a high-tech floating table, a slab of metal with nano anti-gravity devices fixed on the surface of the bottom, enabling it to float midair.

Lin tiredly staggered to the couch and plopped down, groaning; Biao was already taking out their boxes of dinner on the kitchen counter.

"Wanna help me?" the girl called.

"Can't… too… tired…" Lin groaned.

Biao sighed and shook her head, resuming her work, muttering something that sounded like. "Boys…"

Lin closed his eyes, slouching on the couch, nearly lulled to sleep by the comfort of air con and the soft ray of sunset peeking through the velvet drape on the glass door to his right, leading to the terrace. Biao arrived shortly after, balancing two takeout tube containers of soup with two bottles of cold tea on top in one hand, two empty plates with takeout containers of side dishes and a box of breadsticks in the other hand, and holding a couple sets of spoons and chopsticks in her mouth.

She nudged her cousin with her foot and sat down, putting her load down on the table, and turned on the TV, a rather simple feat made difficult by Lin suddenly glomping on her, like a little kid. "What are you, five?" Biao felt the corner of her mouth tipped up. "Eat."

"Feed me", Lin demanded childishly, hugging tighter.

Biao snorted, breaking bread. "You know, the last time I fed you, you were five", she held out a piece of bread, Lin ate it. "You always grew up fast."

Lin drew away and took his soup, dumping a whole piece of bread in there. Biao patted his head before she reached for her own meal. "So", Biao started, stirring her soup. "Like the movie?" she asked casually, blowing a spoonful of hot soup.

Lin turned to her and knew that she was jabbing. "It was a nice comedy."

"It was an action movie", Biao pointed out.

Now, it was Lin who snorted. "Please… Two soldiers going to the war, one got blown up and the other avenged the death? That's a cue for court martial, not medal. And the surviving soldier got a girl in the end? In a war? I've been to the real war. No girls to get there."

Biao swallowed her bite. "Aunt Ming Yee can help you. She has worked with veterans before."

Lin gave a noncommittal grunt and sipped his soup from the container; Biao flicked his ear for the bad manner. They ate in silence; nothing was heard but the sound of the cartoon show on TV and the whisper of early autumn wind flowing through the crack of the glass door from the terrace.

Lin's cellphone vibrated and he picked it up; a text message came from Azula.

"_I forgot about the candies",_ she said. Now that Lin thought about it, he had not gotten the Snow Mints Azula bought him yet.

Snickering, Lin typed in his reply. _"Oh, yeah! Don't eat them all. Save some for me."_

"_Okay."_

"_I'll see you Monday, okay. Good luck with the family dinner",_ Lin paused a bit before adding.

"_Yeah. See you Monday."_

Lin put his cellphone on the table and slouched back on the couch, resuming his dinner. Biao eyed him curiously.

"You know", she said, putting the lid back on her empty container. "I hate to say it but, I think dating Azula is good for you. She makes you happy", she smirked as she continued, sipping from her glass. "And I like how your face changes when I say her name. Azula."

Lin tried so hard to keep his face still. The surge of mild euphoria at the mention of the Princess' name, however, was too strong and he smiled involuntarily.

"See! There it is again", Biao laughed, pointing at the boy who was evading his eyes. "Somebody's in loooovee~"

Lin shot him an annoyed look despite the urge he felt to laugh.

"I thought you were kidding about you being in love with her", Biao draped her arm over her cousin's shoulder, giggling teasingly. "I wouldn't say that she's a keeper because, you know, I have my doubts but…" she sighed, smiling warmly. "…she's a good kid. Treat her well."

Lin grunted, sipping the last of his soup. He sat back and drank his beverage from the bottle, not truly paying attention to the TV as Azula reigned his mind. Biao was right: she really did make him happy. Azula was like a little fire that kept his flame alight.

Lin snickered. "Fire…" he muttered.

"Hmm?" Biao turned to him, frowning a little.

"Fire ", Lin said simply, grinning, ideas forming in his mind. "What comes after Fire?"

"The Elements? Air", Biao replied, still confused.

"Then, Water and Earth", Lin said, still smiling faintly. "I think I'm feeling charitable all of a sudden."

"Yeah? What're gonna do? Buy me a round-the-Four-Nations package tour?" Biao snickered.

"Close", Lin sat up straighter. "I need you to arrange for a trip to the other three Nations, more specifically Southern Air Nation, Southern Water Tribe, and, well, Earth Kingdom."

"You know, I'm just kidding about the paid holiday. While I am curious about snow, I don't like the cold", Biao said.

"I know. It's for me", Lin smiled.

"What's the occasion?" Biao asked.

"Think up something. I just need to get there; I'll take care of the rest once I'm there."

"Well… we have branches in all those places. Travel is hard for us Fire Nation but you can do an inspection. I doubt they will hassle you", Biao pondered aloud. "We're going to need something more solid though, especially for the Earth Kingdom. Chief Hakoda should not bother us much if it's you."

"I'll entrust the details for you, as long as I got there", Lin said, getting up, stretching his back. "Can I borrow your computer?"

"Sure", Biao replied, still confused. Shrugging, she tidied up the table and walked to the kitchen to throw the trash away and put the plates and cups to the sink, glancing at Lin who was typing away on her computer. "What are you searching for?" she asked her cousin who was Googling something while she washed the dirty plates.

"Porn", Lin replied flippantly, earning him a plume of harmless fire from his cousin's foot. "There's a charity auction tomorrow night", Lin informed, clicking on the screen. "Be my plus one?"

"I don't know", Biao grimaced, sucking her teeth. "I have some movies stashed up. I was planning to watch them this weekend, you know, to detox after the date", she shuddered.

"I'll be your teammate for the next Ring of Flame", Lin offered.

"Ng…"

"Two? Three…? I'll throw in dinner at _Banga Steak Shop_ for a month?"

"Okay", Biao drawled. "All of that and… you come home with me for the Fire Festival."

"You drive a hard bargain", Lin lowered his tone dangerously. "Okay, but I cancel the dinner for a month and it's two matches."

"Deal", Biao took it quickly.

"And, if things don't go my way, you don't leave my side at all cost", Lin added quickly.

"Okay", Biao, finished with the last spoon, wiped her hands dry on a piece of cloth and walked up to her cousin, gleefully hugged the boy's neck from behind, pecking his head. "Go take a bath. We're watching some of the movies I have planned for tomorrow in my room. Like old time."

"Aww… but, I wanna sleep", Lin whined.

"Really?"

"…No. Stupid caffeine!"

"Come on", Biao chuckled, sneaking her arms under the boy's arms, pulling him to his feet, like she used to when Lin was little and too preoccupied with his video game. "Come on. We can have ice cream afterwards."

"Ice cream?! Yay!"

Biao laughed at the boy who bolted to her room. Lin came up later, carrying a towel and his change of clothes; Biao snickered as the boy got to the bathroom across the room. She sat down on the chair Lin had left and turned to her desktop. She was curious of why Lin was so interested in a piece of blue amber they would have for bid at the charity auction.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Lilac Hill Hotel; __Summer, Day 20, Month 5, Saturday, 07:12 PM)_

"And the rare piece of Malaran blue amber is sold to Mr. Lin, the twenty sixth, for 2,100 gold pieces", the auctioneer declared, slamming his small gavel on the podium.

Lin felt a small wash of relief and smiled politely at the decorated and high-ranking veteran general whose name, for the life of him, he could not remember; he remembered the old scarred face bald man as an acquaintance of his father's though. Lin had been addressing him as 'General' all night.

"So, Young Master", the surprisingly friendly old General started, taking a couple of thin glasses filled with amber wine for Lin and himself at the short intermission where the guests were herded to a ballroom where refreshment and light music were offered. "If I may, why the interest with the amber?"

Lin smiled, reaching out for the glass; Biao, looking gorgeous by his side in her evening gown of red silk and her hair up in an elegant bun, coughed a little, glaring sharply. Lin smiled politely and refused the drink, taking a glass of fruit juice instead.

"I have my reasons", Lin said mysteriously, taking a small sip. He exchanged a glance with Biao who smiled back a little and tugged her hand on his elbow.

The General noticed the exchanged glances and snickered. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later", the General said, winking conspiratorially. "I'll leave you and your lady friend alone."

"Huh?" Lin and Biao gaped, looked at each other, and drew away from each other a step. "General, I believe you are mistaken", Lin explained quickly. "This is my cousin."

"Cousin?" the General frowned, leaning down a bit as he took a better look at the two shorter youths. "Biao? Little Biao? My dear Agni! Look at you now."

The General laughed and started to recount how when Biao was little, she looked so much like a boy. The two cousins exchanged subtle frown, each thinking the same thing: _'who the hell is this guy?!'_

"You know", the General took a long sip from his glass. "I have a nephew. He just recently broke up with his girlfriend. Maybe you and him should get together, eh?" he suggested to Biao. The latter, along with her cousin, had similar looking strained smile on their faces; only while Biao's was that of disguised snarl and felt bitter, Lin's was gleeful and he was trying not to laugh out loud.

Biao nudged Lin's foot a little and Lin took the clue; as much as he enjoyed watching Biao in this predicament, Auntie Ming Yee was right: they stuck together, the two of them against the world. Excusing themselves, they made way back into the auction room. Biao was decidedly unhappy since the old general had taken a seat next to hers, badgering her every chance he got with his nephew.

It was a long and tiring night for them, especially Biao.

When they got back at the limo that was carrying them home, the girl was positively sulking. Lin, sitting by her side, was reading a small piece of paper the General had slipped into her hand. "Rei…" Lin read the name. "Oh… I see now. That guy was… I still can't put a name. Anyway, he's from the Lu Family. I know this Rei."

Biao turned to him and glared. Lin lit a small flame in his hand and burnt the paper. "Oops", he said but still Biao looked mad.

Sighing, Lin took a long lacquered wooden box from the pile of three boxes in front of them and took out the content; an antique battle mace of the Earth Kingdom Korkean Tribe, made of hardwood and plated with engraved metal, the head was round and smooth with a tiny spike on top.

"Happy birthday~", Lin grinned, presenting the mace. Biao took it and hit him on the knee lightly.

"It's not my birthday", she growled.

"So you'll get another present at your real birthday", Lin joked. "Since when do I have a reason to buy my favorite cousin stuff?"

Biao narrowed her eyes at him and hit him again. The limo pulled over in front of the Golden Tower and Lin and Biao climbed out. Taka and the other Rider, Jon, acting as their chauffeurs for the night, opened Biao's door for her and completely forgot Lin. Lin smirked a bit as he held the medium sized box that held his precious blue amber in one hand and two long boxes and a tube in his other hand; it was funny seeing the two guys trying to flirt with Biao, to impress her with a show of chivalry, opening her doors, escorting her, trying to take her load.

It was funny to Lin who had seen both men at their worst.

The cousins bid their goodbye at the elevator and soon parted ways with the two. They rode the elevator giggling at the two men.

"Oh, come on", Biao defended the two as she unlocked her door. "I think it's sweet", she said, kicking her shoes out at the walkway.

"Of course, you did", Lin said, putting the boxes down on the kitchen counter. "You like taking advantage of people."

"No, I do _not_!" Biao denied tersely from the fridge.

"Yeah, you do. And you know what?" Lin shed off his outer robe and threw it to the couch. "Dibs on the movie!"

"Wait! Not fair!" Biao shouted to no avail; Lin had already dashed to her room. Shaking her head, smiling a little, she sipped her glass of juice and took the items they had purchased to her room. Lin was busy digging through her movie collection in the TV cabinet in there. Biao's room was more or less similar to a regular boy's room, if we don't count the frilly pillowcases and bed sheets her mother insisted she used. Like her room in the Manor, the walls were decorated by her weapon collection, three walls for three Nations.

"Go take a shower", Biao chided the boy. Lin got up, took Biao's half-empty glass and got out. The girl put her load in her bed, along with the box that contained the lump of blue amber. She took the boxes and unloaded them, inspecting the content one by one.

The tube contained a rare painting by Zan Wa, the Fire Nation artist, depicting a scene of ancient war fought by two Earth Kingdom factions; it was rare because the artist rarely produced any work that depicts violence. Lin had said it would look good in his office.

The first long box held her mace and the second one, the longer one, held a jian. Rosewood grip with gold ingot-shaped pommel and hand guard, the same material for the scabbard, thin and slender; Biao pulled the sword out a little and was a little startled at the faint blue hue of reflected light on the surface of the blade. She had not been paying attention when Lin bid for that sword on account of the still unknown general pushing the pictures of his nephew to her face.

She pulled the rest of the sword free and felt the sword's surprising weight despite its slender and thin blade. Being a noble born, Biao naturally knew a thing or two about wielding a fencing jian like this; a sword is, after all, a weapon of nobility, like a longbow.

"Moon steel", Lin appeared, already in his sleeping garb of sleeveless shirt and baggy shorts, carrying a large bowl of fire flakes and a large bottle of lemonade. "I'm planning to have the lab study the alloy; moon steel makes it heat resistant, perfect for firebending swordplay."

"I think I've seen this before", Biao commented, plopping down at the bedside, sheathing the sword back.

"It's Master Piandao's creation. Your must have seen some like it in your dad's collection", Lin said, putting his load down on the floor at the foot of the bed. "Oh, wait a sec", he said as Biao walked to her drawer and extracted her change of clothes.

"What?" the girl asked from across the room; she gasped and turned her face away, holding out a hand. "You are such a child!"

"What?" Lin whined, holding his cellphone up. "I promised your mom I'd take pictures. You don't want me to disappoint your mom, right?"

Biao growled and begrudgingly stood still, facing his direction.

"There you go", Lin clicked the camera button. "One more. Smile this time. Got it. Now, do a little pose. Biao, flashing a finger like that is rude."

Growling, the girl took out her clothes and stormed off past her cousin, kicking him a bit. Lin snickered as he sent the pictures to his Uncle Kang and Aunt Biao: _"Told you I can make her wear a dress. You guys owe me ten silver pieces."_

Afterwards, by reflex, he dialed Azula's number. "Hi."

"_I thought you'd be out, playing hero",_ Azula said over a faint noise from her TV. _"It's all over the news. A bank robbery went wrong. They're holding the security guards hostage, around five of them."_

"Um, where are you right now?" he asked, suddenly full of concern. He knew that Azula was a firebending prodigy, just a step or two shy of true mastery, and she was highly trained in hand-to-hand martial art, swordplay, and excelled in archery and firearm proficiency. Azula, despite her gender, youth, and size, was a fighting force to be reckoned with.

Still, he worried.

"_At home, at the Palace",_ Azula said, completely missing the worry in Lin's tone. _"Jee and Chit Sang are on site though. Oh, hey! Look, they're interviewing Chit Sang."_

"They packing heat?" Lin asked urgently. "Where is it?"

"_Sun Town District",_ Azula said almost lazily. _"And, considering that a police cruiser has just been reduced to a pile of rubble, they're packing more heat than your regular bank robber. They have a mini energy cannon."_

The feared bazooka that fired plasma bolts. Lin had had his fair share with the cannons that, contrary to popular belief, was the invention of Earth Kingdom; he had a small faded burn scar on his left thigh from when an Earth Kingdom soldier shot a tank that he was taking a cover behind, burning his leg in the process.

"Azula, promise me you'll stay home tonight", Lin said earnestly, pleading actually.

"_I don't have any intention to go",_ Azula said. _"I don't think injuries would look good on me when I have breakfast with my parents tomorrow. And besides, the Blue Spirit has just entered the building."_

Lin could hear Avi barking over the phone.

"_Shut up, mutt",_ Azula silenced the dog with just that. _"I think Avi's a fan of his. Never shuts up when he appears on TV."_

"Oh", Lin now felt wary for Zuko's safety.

"_He got them. That was fast", _Azula muttered_. "Anyway, how's the auction?"_

"I got a new sword", Lin replied, feeling light and relief once more. "You haven't called Biao, have you?"

"…"

—CLICK—

"Oh, come on", Lin chuckled, pulling his phone away from his ear. Looking at his wallpaper, a picture of him and Azula, taken at one of her sugar high moment which explains her genuine sunny smile at the picture, he said softly. "Goodnight, Princess."

Biao entered the room, rubbing her wet jet black hair with a towel, clad in a comfy looking red tank top and spandex shorts. She draped her towel carelessly on the chair in front of her vanity mirror and took all of her pillows down from the bed, throwing them at Lin's head.

Slightly annoyed, Lin lined those pillows at the foot of the bed, building a makeshift cushion for them. Biao joined him on the floor, spreading her blanket over their outstretched legs, and grabbed a fistful of fire flakes. Lin watched her and was amused by the fact that she ate like a boy.

"What?" Biao asked, mouth full with fire flakes, when Lin unexpectedly hugged her shoulders like a little kid, grabbing her cold arms.

"Nothing. Cousin's prerogative", Lin chuckled, craning his neck up and pulling Biao for a quick kiss on the temple. "Maybe it's good you don't have a boyfriend. That way, you have more time to take care of me."

Biao narrowed her eyes at him and flicked his forehead. She elbowed him away and slouched for a more comfortable position. "It's not like I don't want a date", she grumbled, stuffing some fire flake into her mouth.

"I know", Lin slid down and mimicked her posture. "You have an insanely high standard", he said, resting his head on Biao's shoulder, clicking the remote to turn on the TV.

"Men are afraid of me", Biao huffed.

"Not initially", Lin rebutted.

"What does that mean?" Biao asked, pouting.

Lin shifted a bit to get a better look at the girl. "Forget that I'm your cousin for five seconds."

"Okay…" Biao drawled.

"You're pretty, you have hot racks, sexy curve, and you're quite well-off", Lin assessed. "When we hang out, boys look at us and they would either fantasize about having babies with your or killing me. Boys are practically drooling over you… until you show them up at firebending or fighting or, you know, any macho things."

"First of all, that's creepy coming from you", Biao said bluntly. "And second of all, Azula's a _powerhouse_ at firebending and martial art, and she's strong despite her size –I swear, that girl has super strength!-, and you're still with her."

"Exactly", Lin drew away, stretching. "She's weird. I'm weird too. That's why we click with each other."

Biao sighed and slouched deeper, nibbling on a fire flake. Lin turned to her and sat straighter. Taking the fire flake bowl from her lap and putting it on the floor, he held the girl by the shoulder, tucking her head in his chest. "Don't worry, I'll still love you."

Biao grunted but did not say anything.

Lin, knowing what was in the girl's head, reassured her. "Your parents just want you to be happy", he said. "Aunt Bing just wants you to be happy. Uncle Kang… will come around eventually."

Biao scoffed.

"Come on", Lin squeezed her a bit. "I can introduce you to some guys I know."

Taka…

"_Hey, Captain! Me and the boys are doing a pissing contest. Wanna join us?"_

Rocky…

"_Hey, Bara, why's Rocky sitting in the corner muttering something about girls?"_

"_You know that lady major from the 521__st__ Armored Regiment?"_

"_The one with, according to Taka, and I quote, 'generous bazoongas'?"_

"_Yup, that's the one. She got drunk and kissed Rocky on the mouth. You know Rocky's shy around girls."_

"_Yeah… hey, what are bazoongas, anyway?"_

"_Oh, kiddo… so much you need to learn."_

Jon…

"_Hey, Cap! Wanna see my girlfriend's photograph?"_

…_a week later…_

"_I thought we were meant to be… *sniff*…"_

"_Tough luck, bro. Look at the bright side; at least she wasn't lying about the other things, just the five kids part."_

"_Not helping, Lu Ten."_

…an hour later…

"_Hey, Cap! Wanna see my new girlfriend's photograph?"_

Meng Po…

"_Hey, Po, we're heading out to town. Wanna come with?"_

"_No. Work to do."_

"_See, I told you, Lin. Come on. They have new toys for the kiddie meal."_

"…_Thought they'd never leave. Now, where were we Mr. Snuggles? Who's the best bearded kitten in the whole world? Yes, you are. Yes, you are."_

Lin grimaced. "You know what? My male acquaintances are mostly soldiers and Riders. You can definitely do better. Maybe one of my friends from Master Piandao's school?"

Shin…

"_Shin, do you know where—"_

"_Hey, you brats! Stop messing with my komodo-rhino!"_

"—_Master… Piandao is…? Whoa, for a one-armed guy, he's strong. Run for your lives, kids!"_

Zhong…

"_Do you know where Yoku is? Her mail got into my room again."_

"_Yes."_

"…"

"…"

"_Wanna tell me?"_

"_If you want me to."_

"…"

"…"

"_Dammit, tell me!"_

Ren…

Well, he was too old.

Yung and Rei…

One of the twins? Not a chance…

Lin embraced his cousin's tightly once more.

"Might you be open to lesbianism? I know a lot of girls who are both pretty and tough. Rain is still single."

Biao flicked his forehead hard.


	8. Chapter 8 - Past, Part 4

**Chapter 8 – Past, Part 4**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, Zhong Thu Region – Wulin Highway; Midday, Winter, Four Years Ago)_

The Fire Nation soldiers riding in the convoy sang in chorus. Lin and Lu Ten, competing in endurance, sat on the tank, straddling the main gun that the tank had pointing at the side, upon their request, to allow more space. The terrain was rugged and the anti-gravity system would not work. The tanks and trucks had to rely on treads and wheels as they traversed through the rough dirt path, making it really hard on the groin should one attempt to sit on the long barrel of the big guns.

"Argh!" Lin caved in first, throwing himself to the side, dangling on the gun barrel; Lu Ten followed next.

"I win", the Fire Prince grinned.

"My father wants a granddaughter; he wanted a daughter but had me instead. I think he'll be disappointed for the second time", Lin groaned, grimacing from the sore in his crotch.

Lu Ten laughed at the joke heartily. He cast a look around the plain they were traversing across, under the gray sky. "I miss home", he said.

Lin, still dangling beside Lu Ten, poked his side with his foot. "Who doesn't?"

"You know what I'm gonna do when I get home?" Lu Ten smiled faintly, amber eyes fixed on the horizon ahead. "I'm gonna go hug my cousins, my aunt, my grandma. And then, I'm going to eat real palace food until I'm burst."

Turning to Lin, Lu Ten asked in good spirit. "What you gonna do?"

Lin replied impassively. "Visit my grandma", they had just received the news last week; Lin had taken to tying a white handkerchief around his belt as a sign of mourning, a gesture done also by his relatives and those who served his House.

"Oh", Lu Ten's face fell. "Sorry."

Before Lin could answer, he saw a large green bolt of plasma energy arching down towards their convoy. Quickly, the young captain dropped down to the ground and jumped, latching onto Lu Ten's waist, and yanked him down. The hit took down a tank in their convoy behind them and sent panic across the battalion.

"What was that?!" Lin screamed over the commotion of the men and machines assuming battle formation; he and Lu Ten took cover behind their tank, ducking low as a volley of green bolts ravaged their line. They armed themselves only with their sidearm that they carried in their person always.

"I didn't see anything", Lu Ten took a peek and saw nothing over the vast plain where the green plasma bolts soared through the sky. "What, in the name of the spirits, can shoot—", he ducked and covered his head with his arms as a bolt soared past through their barricade and exploded near them. "—a tank round that far?!"

"A _very_ good tank", Lin guessed, feeling a bit more relieved as Jon arrived and handed them better and bigger weaponries than their military officer standard Wezen pistols. Lu Ten took the submachine gun and checked the barrel; Lin took the sniper rifle and cocked the lever back halfway, checking the red bullet inside the chamber. "Sounds like they have several of those", Lin added as the series of explosions ensued, sending dirt flying and making loud noises everywhere. He took the bandolier of bullets from Jon and wore it across his chest.

General Jian and his commanders appeared shortly, riding in his armored car. It was a black and battered but still very a intimidating metal plated car the size of a small tank with six wheels, two in the front, and three gun turrets; the one in the middle was fixed in and fired smaller caliber tank round, operated from the inside, and the other two were heavy machine guns and were positioned slightly raised on rotatable space behind it on the right and left, manned manually by an operator and each space could hold two additional soldiers to defend the gunners. General Jiang was on one of the smaller turrets, ready for battle with his rifle.

"We're scattering", he shouted over the noise. "We're sitting ducks here", he remained while his men ducked as a shot landed so close to the armored car. "We're going to draw their fire. Son, take your Riders and see if you can sneak around and get the enemies in the meantime."

Lin nodded and his father smiled a little. The armored car sped away and the tanks and trucks took it as a sign to move. Lin and Lu Ten, along with some Riders ran ahead towards the enemy fire. Lin felt really unsettled as he saw how the volley of green bolts seemed to have fallen from the sky over the horizon and he could not see the launching point. The enemies must have been miles away.

They ran low and slid down the grassy hill, landing on the slippery rocky ground. The other Riders joined them soon, riding a speeder-bike each. Lin, Lu Ten, and the runners got on the backs of the bikes and they sped away towards the enemies. Riding behind a random Rider, Lin's attention was drawn by Lu Ten who called him urgently; the Prince was grinning ear to ear, riding at Lin's left, pointing excitedly at Bara who was riding their bike. Lin snickered at the sight; it was no secret that Lu Ten liked older, more mature ladies despite being a brat of mere seventeen. He often flirted with Bara whom he had once described as a 'hawt' babe.

A shot landed between them and forced the two speeder-bikes to hover apart further; the rest of the bikes did the same and dispersed to minimize the chance of being hit. They had covered quite a distance over the plain and still the enemies were not in sight. Balancing his rifle on the Rider's shoulder, Lin peeked through the scope. He saw nothing at first but, as he adjusted the sight and zoomed in, he saw a line of heavy looking tanks that bore a resemblance to sand-brown colored rock turtle.

There were six of them, he counted and each, if the people running around them, busy carrying shells to and fro the tanks, were any indication, was at least twenty feet tall. The size of the short but large gun was unbelievable huge, easily five times the caliber of a regular tank. Each tank ran on tread and looked bulky due to the heavy plating. Even from the distance, Lin could see the yellow-trimmed green Earth Kingdom insignia on each tank.

Lin took down his rifle and felt like he should somehow inform his men. But, the attack was sudden and they were on the way to Senlin Village to the west, and the entire area was under the Fire Nation control; he had not seen it necessary to arm himself and his men with guns and radio.

True enough, most of his men were armed only by their sidearm and only Rocky carried explosives with him. At least, Taka, Sang Min, and Jumi had their bows with them; their fast and accurate Yuyan style of archery would be invaluable. And, as Rain flew past by, riding behind Nari, Lin could see the woman fixing her large dual-chambered crossbow; her long-range sniping could be a great asset too.

But none, he guessed, were wearing their comlink.

The series of explosions centered at their path increased. It would seem that the enemies had truly gotten wind of their intention of a frontal assault and had begun to focus their attention at them. The distraction plan had failed but, no matter, the assault plan was still on.

"Spread out!" Lin yelled at the top of his lungs; his Riders repeated the command all over and rode farther from each other.

Lin stood on the foot bars and aimed his gun, checking through the scope. A blast took down their bike and everything went slow-motion; it was like being thrown, being jolted by one of those less conventional rollercoasters, he felt it to his gut, and the weightlessness he felt when he was jostled forward through the rising flame and smoke, the Rider, now dead, below him, and the hopelessness as his rifle slipped through his grasp… it was not Lin's first time being blown up but it still felt every bit as foreign as it could be.

The impact he made when he hit the rocky ground hard was, strangely, so very familiar. The pain shooting through his entire system from his shoulder all the way through his left arm, his kneecap and foot slamming hard on the ground, and the pain, the sharp hot pain spreading, felt like electricity.

His flame sprung to life as he hit the ground instinctively, orange and bright. Grunting, Lin heard the roaring of the engines of the speeder-bikes echoing away and a sense of panic coursed through him; he tried to push himself up but his left arm failed to work and his body felt heavy like lead and his inside hot like he was having a fever. Tongues of flame were alight all over him like patches of blood.

To add to his misery, the bright warm orange slowly turned pitch black.

Horror on top of pain.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Pearl Island District – Golden Tower, Room 8-04; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 07:32 AM)_

Lin gasped awake, shooting up all of a sudden.

His chest felt constricted and a phantom of old pain shot through his left limbs. Grunting, he gripped his left shoulder, feeling the skin of his upper arm cold. He felt beads of sweat like sharp drops of ice on his chest and patches of sweat formed on his sleeveless shirt. His arms were glistening with sweat and his breathing felt truly hard.

He was hyperventilating.

Biao opened the door and shivered a bit before she stepped in, eyes never leaving her cellphone. Wearing a bright red baggy shirt and spandex shorts, with her damp hair untied and a toothbrush in her mouth, she walked past her bed and headed to her closet, muttering something. She walked past her vanity and put her phone there and opened her closet door. Twisting her hair, she pulled her shirt up and undressed her top. Like a born and bred tomboy she was, she let the shirt drop and picked up a fresh tank top. The small top slipped through her fingers and fell to the floor. Biao pushed her hair to the side and bent down to pick it up, completely topless.

Lin averted his eyes away when he realized that he was staring and had seen too much.

Biao pulled the top over her head and turned, still with the top above her abdomen but at least it covered her breasts, most of them. She frowned at Lin and pulled her top down, picked up her phone before she joined him in bed. "How can you be sweating?" she asked incredulously as she settled on a pile of pillows and snapped her fingers; the TV turned on and the morning news were on. "I maxed out the AC. You were really really hot last night", she wiped Lin's forehead with her hand. "And you're warm. You're pale too. Are you sick?"

"Why are you changing in here?" Lin asked bluntly. "I saw something I so did not need to see."

Biao snorted. "Nothing you've never seen before", she shrugged flippantly, sending their little cousin into a deep blush. "And besides, remember when we used to take a bath together?"

"I was a kid", Lin replied tersely, face heating up. "And besides, you were…" Lin scowled a bit, mumbling. "…different."

Biao smiled a bit at her little cousin, truly not minding that much. Lin had been a bit clingy to her when he was a kid and she adored him. Losing his mother at birth was such a blow to the baby boy and their grandmother Umma, Biao's sickly mother Bing, and the little five-year-old Biao practically raised Lin. She remembered the time when the stubborn six-year-old Lin would not want to take his evening bath without his cousin Biao.

A few years after that, he went to war.

"Come on", Biao tugged on Lin's shirt. "Let's get you out of that damp shirt."

It really did feel like old times, indeed, because Lin, sleepy and lightheaded he was, obeyed and put his arms out, allowing Biao to pull his shirt over his head. The girl gasped at the sight of Lin's bare torso; it made Lin remember how he had been careful not to find himself shirtless in front of his cousin. Lin's torso was riddled with scars big and small. Numerous cuts that had pretty much healed left wispy impression on his pale skin, but some very pronounced scars like the gash that cut him across the chest, a star-shaped bullet hole on his right shoulder, and a jagged line across his left side broke Biao's heart.

Her little cousin had been through so much.

"Do you think I should get some tattoo?" Lin grinned, back to his joker self.

Biao pulled him into her embrace, kneeling up and pressing the boy's head on her chest, sniffing back a sob as she pressed her cheek on the top of the boy's head. "I'm fine", Lin said calmly. "Since when do you have that tattoo? Did it hurt?"

Biao chuckled and let go a bit. She wiped her tears and sat down, pulling on her top, to reveal the thorny rose on the side of her right breast. "Don't tell my mom", she warned.

"Are you crazy?" Lin scoffed. "It's us against the world, remember?"

"I was out with some college friends. Remember Mi Ching?" she asked, rubbing the scarlet red flower on her skin. "When you were a kid, she often came to our house. She always brought you candies."

"Vaguely", Lin frowned, lying back down on the bed; the sheet felt cool on his hot skin.

"Anyway, she took art when we were in college and she was opening a tattoo parlor at the time. We all got drunk and we all had tattoos at her place", Biao shuddered, picking up her toothbrush she had dropped on the bed. "One of the most foolish mistakes I've made. It stung for a week."

"Do you think I should get one?" Lin asked. "I'm thinking of, I don't know, a Nation insignia here", he pointed on his solar plexus. "Or, maybe, 'I love Azula' here", he traced an arc along his abdomen. "Will the second one get me arrested?"

"Considering that the Princess is only fourteen, yes", Biao jabbed bluntly, lying down on top of a pile of pillows with her fingers netted below her head and watched the news lazily. Lin gathered the blanket around him and snuggled onto her, hugging her by the torso.

"I miss Azula", he lamented, shifting his head for better position on his cousin's chest.

"Really?" Biao frowned a little, looking down at the tuff of dark under her chin. "I really can't see you and Azula getting _that_ serious", she said, separating her hands and hugging her cousin. "I don't know how to feel about this."

"I really miss her", Lin said quietly. "You know…"

Biao's eyes automatically darted to her nightstand, where the token she had received years ago was still there, kept safely inside the drawer. "Yeah…"

"I miss her smile", Lin continued. "She doesn't smile a lot unless you give her food or sugar, but she has a beautiful smile."

"I notice", Biao added, tilting her head a little in acknowledgement. True enough, whenever Azula got blue, Biao could always cheer her up by treating the little girl to her favorite cherry pies or sundisk cookies.

"I miss her smell", Lin sighed, instinctively breathing in the fresh soapy scent of Biao. "She smells nice, like flowers and cloudy skies."

Biao stifled her smile.

"I miss her touch", Lin nearly whimpered. "Her skin is so soft, like crazy soft. And she's a hugger."

"Yeah, she is", Biao concurred, frowning a bit, remembering all the time Azula would glomp onto her when she was lonely.

"I miss her lips", Lin continued almost dreamily; Biao frowned at him. "She has beautiful lips. And she's an amazing kisser. When we kiss, she liked to nip my lip with hers. And her kiss tastes so sweet."

Biao did not know how to respond.

"I miss her breasts", Lin smirked mischievously though his lament did not sound any less sad. "So perky and soft. I like squeezing them and playing with her nipples. Her nipples are really great you know? A bit pink and, I'd say, smaller than yours."

"Oookay…" Biao tried to get up but Lin held her tight.

"I miss her… is 'pussy' polite?"

"No!"

"Well, I miss it", Lin sighed deeply. "Do you know that she's like really really clean down there –I don't think hair even grows on her vagina- and her skin is like really white and her vagina is pale pink? So beautiful, like a petal of cherry blossom on a layer of fresh snow."

"Okay, I don't need to hear that", Biao finally managed to unlatched the boy's arms. "Bath, breakfast, now!"

Lin whined, taking a pillow and burying his head under it.

"Up, now!" Biao pulled the cover off of him. "And the Red Rock wants to reschedule", she added, picking up her toothbrush and cellphone from the bed. "Up. I'm making your favorite sandwich."

Groaning, Lin sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Sleep was never easy nowadays. He had had some sense of clarity upon the earlier days when his vigilante persona was being created, a sense of purpose. Zuko's marring of the face was a big blow that sent him spiraling downward.

But, Lin supposed he would just have to make it worth the pain. He gained an ally, and that's a start.

Lin spun and put his feet on the floor. He tried to push himself up but stopped. He really did miss his Princess. Sighing, Lin picked up his cellphone from the nightstand and flipped it open; the picture of him and Azula greeted him. He smiled at the wallpaper, where he hugged Azula from behind and circled his arm around her neck, pulling her close; Azula had a sunny smile that was every bit genuine and showed her row of perfect teeth, her eyes crinkled, and her slender delicate fingers on Lin's arms, holding him too. Lin himself had pressed his cheek on hers, grinning wide, snapping the picture with the phone he held with his free hand.

He dialed her number without even realizing it.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Royal Caldera District – Fire Nation Royal Palace, the Royal Female Quarters; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 06:30 AM)_

Fire Princess Azula was already awake when her nanny shook her shoulder gently. Slowly, the girl rose and sat, propping herself up with one arm and rubbing her eyes with the other hand. The nanny, the middle-aged lady who had been taken care of her since she was a baby, pulled the cover off of the girl, smiling brightly.

Azula groaned a bit and attempted to fall back onto her bed; the nanny held her shoulder and pulled the sleepy girl up and away from bed. Guiding the girl by the shoulder, she walked the Princess to the bathroom in the chamber and sat her on the stool in front of the mirror that was hanging above the sink. The young girl was still wobbly so the nanny stood close, allowing the girl to lean on her, while she prepared the girl's toothbrush for her.

"Slept well, Princess?" the nanny chirped happily, handing the toothbrush over.

Azula gave a slight grunt as she brushed her teeth, watching her nanny filled her plastic cup with water from the tap.

"Had a nice dream?"

Azula shrugged this time. She detached herself from her nanny's warm and soft-smelling body and dropped her arms on the marble sink counter and put her chin there, dripping toothbrush foam on her sleeve. From the large wall mirror, she saw her nanny fill the bathtub and prepare some soap and shampoo.

"Huang Mei?" Azula asked sleepily, spitting into the sink.

"Yes, Princess?" the nanny hummed, squirting soap into the bathtub; Azula gurgled loudly before she continued.

"Does it hurt when people have sex?"

The bathing soap slipped through Huang Mei's grasp and bounced off the wall loudly.

Now, that was really awkward for Huang Mei who, despite having a lot of experience in the arena of lovemaking, being a wild party girl in the days of her youth and married with four kids, did not think herself qualified for such task; her kids were all boys too, i.e. her husband's responsibility when it comes to _the talk_.

Fortunately, the Lady Ursa had briefed her, and every female maid the young Fire Princess had contact with on regular basis, regarding this particularly delicate matter. Trying to hide her discomfort, the nanny picked up the fallen soap bottle and lied through her teeth. "Why, _yes_, Princess. The pain is unlike any other. The pain alone can kill you. I strongly advise against engaging in that particular activity."

The last sentence was from the rendition briefed to her personally by Prime Minister Ozai, though. The man really was afraid of losing his precious baby girl but, as usual, too proud to show it.

"Oh…" Azula simply said, too tired to be skeptical. Plus, she did experience some amount of pain when…

Azula quickly stopped the thought as she noticed in the mirror slight rosy tint gracing her cheeks. Huang Mei, done with the bathwater, turned off the faucet and, drying her hands on her robe, walked to Azula and pulled her up to her feet gently. Again, the slightly spoilt Princess, grunted and dropped her forehead on the taller woman's shoulder and let the nanny untie the knot of her sash and undress her robe. Azula circled her arms around the nanny's neck and slumped down, staggering the woman a little, and let her work on her trousers next. Huang Mei tugged down the girl's panties next and Azula kicked those clothing off.

"Come on, dear", Huang Mei smiled fondly, hugging the girl and pretty much dragged her to the bathtub. She sat the young Princess on the edge of the large bathtub but Azula grunted and let go.

"I haven't peed yet", she said with eyes half-lidded, still apparently sleepy.

"You can pee after you take a bath", Huang Mei suggested, smiling.

"But, I wanna pee now", Azula whined.

Huang Mei chuckled; in so many ways, the young Princess was still that little girl she adored. "Alright, dear", she said. Azula yawned and stood up, walking to the toilet at the left, a few feet away. She sat down and relieved herself. "Aren't you going to wait until I leave?" Huang Mei playfully scolded.

Azula shrugged lazily.

Huang Mei sighed and shook her head, smiling fondly at the girl's antics. "You have grown into a fine young lady, Azula", she said as Azula finished up and wiped herself clean with toilet paper. "But, there are things that you must consider."

"You changed my diapers when I was a kid", Azula shrugged lightly as she stepped into the foamy bathtub and sat down. Drawing her legs to her chest, she hugged her knees and let her nanny bathe her.

"You have grown so much, Azula", Huang Mei started, sitting on the edge of the bathtub behind Azula with her feet in the water, rubbing the girl's head with shampoo while Azula played with the bubble. "You should start acting more ladylike", she continued, rubbing more shampoo on the girls wet hair. It always felt like she was betraying Azula when she had to play the spy. "Or boys won't like you."

"Hmph, who cares", the Princess huffed, pouting.

Huang Mei felt relief of such reaction from the girl.

"Come now", the nanny chuckled, putting her hands on the Princess' shoulders and grasping a bit. "You are not a little child anymore. Come on, up."

Azula stood up, soapy thick foam gathering around her; she scooped them in her hands and rubbed her body with it while Huang Mei soaped her back. "Look at you now", Huang Mei sighed, somewhat proudly. "So beautiful."

True enough, Huang Mei thought as she gave the girl's naked form an appraising look. Azula had grown into a very beautiful creature. Her petite frame was mind-blowing, with curves that were just so… _right_; unlike so many other beautiful girls out there with their small tiny imperfection, like the butt too small or the waist too wide. And her skin was flawless, pure and soft, and her body that looked neither too frail nor very muscular. Her hair soft and straight and her face like an angel's.

"Okay", Huang Mei said, picking up the shower head and stepping back. "Turn around", Azula turned on the spot and faced her. "Close your eyes", Huang Mei loosened the lock and felt the adjust button with her thumb; Azula took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, puffing her cheeks. Huang Mei chuckled fondly. In so many ways, her Princess was still that little girl whose diapers she changed. She lifted the hem of her robe and stepped back in the bathtub, positioning the noose on the girl's head. Huang Mei pressed the button and Azula squeaked sharply as the water hit her.

"Cold!" she whined loudly, cringing away from the cascading water.

"Oh, sorry", Huang Mei stifled a smile, fumbling with the temperature control water. "Come here", she turned on the shower as the girl inched closer to her, still hugging herself and eyeing the shower head with such childish mistrust.

The nanny smiled as she let the water drop on the Princess, washing away the soap that was on her. "Arms up", she said and Azula obediently raised her arms all the way up like a little girl. Chuckling, Huang Mei shot the water on the underside of the girl's arms and her sides, making her giggle.

Huang Mei herself was chuckling. "Turn around", she commanded, wiping the leftover soap with her hand. "You can open your eyes now, you know."

As Huang Mei bent a little and shot the water on Azula's buttocks and legs, she said. "You're old enough to take a bath by yourself."

"But, I'm so… tired…" the girl whined.

Huang Mei chuckled again. "Done", she said, turning off the shower. "Do you want to soak in the water for awhile?"

"No", Azula said, stepping out of the bathtub and onto the cold marble floor; she shivered briefly and hugged her elbows, cringing. The Princess channeled her bending and breathed out steam as her nanny dried her body with a towel and she spread her arms to allow the woman to wrap her torso with the damp red towel. She walked to the mirror and sat on the stool.

While Huang Mei dried her hair with another towel, Azula looked at herself in the mirror.

"Am I…?"

"Hmm? Are you what, dear?" Huang Mei asked back, rubbing the Princess' long hair with the towel.

"…Um, you know…" Azula shifted around a little, nervously rubbing her big toes with each other. "…beautiful…" she said in a small timid voice.

Azula was a bit startled by Huang Mei's hand tugging her chin up gently; she was kneeling now beside the girl and smiling brightly. "Of course, you are", she reassured the girl. "You're a Princess. Princesses are beautiful."

"…Oh…" Azula's shoulders slumped; it was not really the kind of answer she was expecting.

As they were done drying her hair, Huang Mei helped the girl into a bathrobe and they walked out to the crew of maidservants who were ready to dress the girl for the day. Standing in the middle of a circle of maids, the Princess let go of her towel and spread her arms, letting the damp fabric fall to the floor. A pair of maids moved to secure her naked breasts with a wrap of red silk cloth they tightened under her mounds with a golden colored tasseled braided cloth cord, and tied at her right side with a long pink lace through the small holes along the edges.

Another pair moved next and put on a pair of red panties on her, tying the laces on the sides of her waist while another pair was ready behind her with a formal robe. Done with her underwear, one of the maids gathered up her hair and held it up while the others applied light-smelling perfume on her. The inner wear of light sleeveless garb and shorts came next, dark-red with golden trim, as such was the theme of the Royal Family, and the heavy formal robe came after, plain with no embellishment the expensive fabric did not really need. Two maids approached her from behind with a sash while another waited in front of her, kneeling as she tied the knot, while the others put on her shoulder mantle. The last was her long cotton tasset; a sash with a piece of long, skirt-like, fabric hanging down on the front and back, parted on the sides to allow a more comfortable leg movement.

Finally done with the dress, they moved to the Princess' vanity and Azula sat down in front of the mirror. The servants combed her hair and applied scented oil. Azula picked up her phone that she put on the desk in front of her mirror and checked her messages; Ty Lee sent her a picture of a kitten she had, Azula guessed, come across on the street at some point last night after Azula had fallen asleep.

Shrugging, Azula put her phone down, trying not to think too much on the lack of message from a certain dummy. Besides, the Princess thought as the maids styled her hair into her usual top-knot and applied her makeup. It was only seven.

The maidservants withdrew as they finished and bowed with proud smiles plastered on their faces at their work; Huang Mei, clothes already dry thanks to her firebending, approached with Azula's headpiece. She tucked it on the Princess' top-knot and sighed in admiration. "My beautiful Princess", she smiled. Azula stood up and spun around to her with a little childish smug on her slightly curved lips.

Azula narrowed her eyes slightly. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Come here", Huang Mei spread her arms wide; Azula stepped into her embrace. "My little Princess", the nanny felt her eyes welling up. Letting go, she fussed over Azula's clothes a little. "Now, go have breakfast with your family. They're waiting."

Azula picked up her cellphone and her small Spica revolver from her drawer. The maids no longer felt weirded out; they were veterans who had served and taken care of the Princess since the day she walked around with a stuffed animal, then with a laptop, and now with a gun.

Azula stored the items in her sleeve pockets, the gun in her right sleeve and her cellphone in her left. A pair of maids opened her door for her and Azula walked out first. They got out next, forming an entourage behind the Fire Princess; Huang Mei walked in the front nearest to the girl. Azula straightened out and stepped forward, pacing steadily to the Royal Palace, so different from her usual lazy dragging of feet whenever she was in her apartment in the Chestnut Stone or when she was staying over at Lin's. In the Royal Palace, she was a Princess; it was funny, even to her, of how fake she had to be in the house where she was born and grew up.

The Princess felt the morning sunlight and the smell of fresh summer flowers in the air as she walked through the hallway that would take her to the front gate of the Royal Female Quarters; hard gray stone floor with railings painted bright red at the sides, crossing through a flower garden, and roofed for when it rains. The Royal Palace still bore much of the traditional aesthetic architecture.

In the middle of the hallway, the Princess abruptly stopped and turned to her entourage; the maids fought and urge to glance at each other. "Answer me honestly: does sex hurt?"

"Oh, yes, Princess…"

"…very much so…"

"…like I want to die…"

"…I'll regret it every seconds of my life…"

"…like hell…"

Azula showed no reaction; she simply turned on her heel and resumed her walk to the gate.

At the gate, Azula saw her mother standing there, waiting for her. An elegant tall lady, Ursa was, with skin of flawless creamy white like her daughter's and eyes dark amber, unlike Azula's brighter hue, and hair of raven like her daughters, and facial features of delicate brows, heart-shaped jaw, soft cheeks, prim nose, elegant and gentle lips, and almond-shaped eyes. Indeed, Princess Azula was often praised to be her mother's spitting image, a younger version of the Lady.

Princess Azula bowed a little at her mother and Ursa, not content of such formality, stepped closer to her and placed a soft touch on her cheek and shoulder, drinking the sight of her daughter's face before she gave the girl a light hug. Azula and Zuko had been unexpectedly held up because something came up in their office yesterday and were not able to make it until late last night. Ursa was able to make it to his son's chamber before he went to bed but had not yet the time to see her daughter until now.

"Are you doing alright, Azula?" Ursa asked, letting go and brushing the side of her daughter's face a little; there was no smile on the impassive face of her daughter but Ursa was used to it. "Is everything well?"

"I guess", Azula shrugged a little as she linked her wrist on her mother's elbow and they walked out through the grand gate of the South Wing together with their maids.

Out there, on the cobblestoned road connecting the wings of the Palace, a small platoon of the Royal Processions and two palanquins of red, with slanted four-sided roof tiled black and a small two-pronged golden flame insignia on top, and semi see-through light purple veils on the four sides, were waiting for them. The palanquins floated in the air thanks to the anti-gravity plates installed at the bottom and they were operated by four bearers each whose job was to steer the vehicle by the beams they held on their shoulders like how one would man a traditional palanquin; the main difference between this version and the traditional one, really, is just the weight. The guards saluted the two royals; Ursa nodded and smiled while Azula looked at them blankly (she was still sleepy).

"Captain", Ursa called the leader of the Processions. "Would mind getting us a bigger palanquin my daughter and I can share?"

"Yes, My Lady", the maskless captain nodded. He turned to his men and nudged his chin. Eight of them broke free of their formation and ran to one of the posts along the road.

Azula yawned openly; Ursa jerked her elbow, tugging Azula's hand in the process. The Lady gave her daughter a mild disapproval look but Azula cared little for it. She missed a certain dummy too much and the disappointment of not getting any message or a chance to call him was beginning to resurface.

Azula had to admit the absurdity of such reaction. They had only been away for a day and they would see each other again come Monday. Besides, it was just so pointless feeling this way… this constricting pain in her chest, this hollow on her heart, and this cold breathlessness that made her want to heave. Suffering would not magically bring her into Lin's arms.

Ursa seemed to notice Azula's pensiveness and could not bring herself to say anything in the ten minutes ride to the Royal Wing. She had had little success, she had to admit, when it comes to relating with her one and only daughter. Ursa always found Azula a bit strange and had little in common with her. Azula might look like her but they were as different as heaven and earth. Ozai could relate to Azula due to firebending, an art that Ursa, despite her heritage, never considered a defining part of her, and, against her wish when Azula started learning swords, the young Princess and her brother bonded closer due to this shared interest despite the Lady being an accomplished fencer herself.

Other things Ursa excelled at or had interest in –art, poetry, drama, cooking, etc- Azula cared little about. Sometimes, Ursa honestly believed that the universe was conspiring against her effort to relate and bond with her daughter.

Even sitting side by side in the wider and larger palanquin, in a neat seiza, Ursa could not bring herself to loosen her tongue; how are you, are you eating well, were you mean to Zuko, how are Mai and Ty Lee, how's the job, were you hurt at all, how's the weather doing for you? All those questions and more were trying to burst out, clawing at her throat, tickling the tip of her tongue. But, she chose to hold it in. Those conversations were supposed to be saved for the family breakfast anyway. Besides, Azula might jump and run away; she had done it before.

Strangely enough, Ursa had no qualm barraging her son with those questions, and then some, last night until Zuko had to pretty much ask her to leave his room so he could sleep.

They arrived at the grand gate of engraved black stone forming the vague impression of a dragon's head. The golden-plated ten feet tall gates were opened and guarded by a squad of armed Royal Processions. The palanquin descended and Ursa stepped down quick, holding the veil for her daughter, a simple loving gesture she hoped Azula would, at least, like. The clueless Princess had, sadly, already hopped down the other side and rounded the palanquin with her hands clasped behind her back, wondering what her mother was waiting for. Hiding her disappointment, Ursa descended the steps and joined her daughter.

Together they walked towards the Fire Lord's Quarters, but, this time, Azula's small hand in her arm felt like a wisp of smoke to Ursa, like she was not there at all. Or rather like Ursa was not there. Less and less was she involved in her daughter's life and Ursa felt like she was losing her. When she gave birth to her baby daughter, she actually thought Azula would be an easier child, a baby girl that she had always wanted, a baby girl she could play dolls with, whose hair she could braid and nails painted, a baby girl who would… who would love her…

Ursa loved her baby girl, though it was hard to show it.

Now, whether or not Azula even gave a rat's crack about her, as terrible as it sounds, Ursa was not very sure.

The short walk to the dining hall of the Fire Lord's Quarters was almost unbearable for the Lady. Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Illah were already there, always the first to arrive. The Fire Lord was old, ninety five years of life and still seemed to have enough steam to go on for another hundred years. Long snow white hair tied in the so-called aristocratic top-knot –with a part of the hair in the knot while the rest fall free on his back- and a thin long moustache and goatee dangling down from his humorless face and two strands of his hair on the sides of his face, all trimmed neatly. His eyes were sharp amber and surprisingly bright, the feature that Azula inherited from him aside from his name. He wore his usual Fire Lord attire, even at this family gathering on such a warm morning, with its dark five-layered shoulder mantle, long robe, complete with the Fire Crown.

The two royal females bowed politely at the two; Azulon barely glanced at them as his eyes were trained at the door while Fire Lady Illah, seated at the Fire Lord's left at the long table, sharing the head of the table with him, nodded slightly. An intimidating old lady, Fire Lady Illah was. Eighty something and showing it but she portrayed none of those frail old woman persona. In fact, the Fire Lady radiated wisdom and maturity, and even some sort of force that only monarch could have. Her hair was long and thin, like that of a young woman's, but gray with no more remnants of her former beautiful raven; it was tied into a feminine top-knot, much like Ursa's, and housed a golden large and thin two-pronged headpiece, again, like Ursa's, but it came with a ruby center that had the shape of a dragon's head. The Fire Lady, much like her husband, wore her full formal robe.

The dining hall was a spacious room carpeted with red and gold, decorated with pleasing and tranquil paintings of some of the most famous sceneries of the Nation, and attended by two lines of manservants and maidservants, each standing by the right and left side of the table respectively; a large rectangular table of ancient iron-oak, clothed with a long brocade of dark with golden trim, bearing a red insignia in the middle. Silverwares, porcelain cups and saucers, and crystal glasses were lined up at each seat, ready to be used.

Ursa might not be able to see it and was wondering how in the name of Agni the elderly couple could stand wearing such elaborate robe in summer but Azula and her highly advanced skills and knowledge of firebending noticed the faint traces of body temperature manipulation around her grandparents; if she squinted, she could see haze enveloping the outline of their bodies. Azula remembered her uncle being able to do the same thing, though the old lazy and fat man was not above making her and Zuko fan him during summer days with the promise of candies.

Ozai came in next, alone.

Azula felt a burst of happiness at the sight of her father, but it was not enough to break through the thick layer of… what should she call it…? Disappointment…? …that had been clouding her mind since she woke up this morning.

Her father, Ozai, was a majestic man in her eyes. Tall and muscular, with the frame of a warrior and firebending skills to match, clean-shaven save for the long goatee he sported always and her black hair in an aristocratic top-knot, held by a golden headpiece. The man's face was hard, like it was carved on stone, and his sharp amber eyes scanned the room briefly before he bowed to the monarch.

Ozai moved to the table and took the seat at the right side of the Fire Lord, taking the third seat; the first and second ones belong to Iroh and Lu Ten respectively and both were empty. Ursa herself took the third seat at the left also, right in front of her husband.

"Father", Ozai greeted the Fire Lord verbally as he sat down, ignoring a servant from the rows that stood in a line behind him who was pouring his tea. "Iroh sent a message last night. He wishes to speak to you in the evening."

"Set it up", Azulon simply said, sipping his steaming tea.

"Yes, My Lord", Ozai bowed again. He stood up and sent a plain glance at the two females sitting across from him and then he looked down at his empty bowl with bored expression.

Zuko took his sweet time showing up and Azula swore she would kill him for that one day.

When the youngest Prince did arrive, he looked like he had been up all night and Azula glared at him with righteous fury from across the table. Zuko did not even notice. Azula only intensified her glare and wished the most unfortunate slip on a banana peel or something to happen to her brother.

But, even that felt empty. She was not sure what to do about this hollow feeling in her chest. It was not something she truly recognized. It was like when Lu Ten left for the first time all over again.

"Azula", Ursa started the conversation, picking up sweet tofu from the dish plate into Azula's rice bowl. "How are you doing lately? How's your work?"

Azula stood up suddenly, both feeling a sharp pain in her chest and her left sleeve pocket vibrating. "I'm feeling unwell", she said to the table before striding out of the dining hall, accompanied by the Fire Lord and Fire Lady's disapproving frown and her mother's disappointed expression. And to think that Ursa had a surprise for her.

Well, she's going to see him, anyway, Ursa sighed as she waved for one of the maids that were standing behind the female side of the table to approach and refill her cup.

Azula herself was already outside in the roofed hallway, fishing out her cellphone from her sleeve pocket; one look at the caller ID and she soared through the sky; it was not her style but she would have actually jumped and squealed like Ty Lee would had Huang Mei and the rest of her maids not came out in hurried steps after her.

Azula did not know why, she only knew that she wanted –needed- some privacy right now and, for some reason, her first impulse was to run. Huang Mei shouted her name before she lifted the hem of her robe and gave chase but Azula was every bit as fast as her small frame suggested and then some. It was almost funny to see a Fire Princess being chased around the palace by some maids and, as Azula made her way out of the Royal Wing and past her earlier palanquin guards, about a platoon of Royal Procession, all shouted her name and asking her to stop, well, politely.

The Fire Princess did not know where she had ended up in; the road and the walled gate all look the same and she was never an adventurous child to begin with, unlike Zuko and Lu Ten. Azula never ventured deeper than the South Wing where she lived, the East Wing where the males of their family lived, the Royal Wing where the Fire Lord's living quarters and the Throne Room was.

The place she ended up in as she dived through the gateway and hid behind as her pursuers, men and maids on foot and, as the chase dragged on, riding speeder-mopeds, was foreign to her. Azula let out a sigh of relief and the sight ahead made her frown. Since when did they have a temple in the Palace?

Tentatively, the Princess patted her wrinkled robe and stepped forward, checking her phone. Lin had hung up but it was the way they do things sometimes; one would call while the other, if caught in a situation where they could not answer immediately, would ignore the call but had the responsibility of calling back. It was their protocol.

The temple ahead of her stood on a raised platform of carved stone accessible by short granite steps numbering exactly eight. The building was grand and, like many temples dedicated to Fire Nation spirits, had the front bearing windows that had, along the frame, the carving of flames; sunlight cast through the window would look like flames.

The building was wooden and painted bright red, pagoda-shaped and had eight tiers and eight sides. The roofs were slightly slanted and tiled yellow, the pole on the tip of the pagoda was measured eight feet tall, and on the very tip was a lump of ruby the size of a grown man's head carved into the shape of a three-pronged Fire Nation insignia. The temple was surrounded by a four-sided wall and had the height of about five feet; Azula strode to the veranda up in front of the temple and darted to the corner, clutching her cellphone in her hand. She squatted down there, hiding behind the wooden railing that, thankfully, bore similar color to her clothing and called the last incoming number, peeking over the railing a bit to check the surrounding.

"_Morning, Princess~"_

"Hey", Azula whispered, felt like a the pocket of air expanding in her chest and hurting her inside out had been puncture and the constricting air dissipating slowly. _'I miss you'_, she nearly said but, as always, Lin came through.

"_I miss you",_ Lin said, chuckling_. "Weird, huh? Why are you whispering?"_

Azula smiled a bit but harrumphed. "You're a dummy", she huffed, cranking up her volume a bit. "We're going to see each other tomorrow."

"_I know, but… I don't know, I just sort of miss you when I wake up this morning",_ Lin said. _"Wanna sneak out? I'm staying over at Biao's and she drove me here but I can have a bike here in five minutes."_

"No", Azula grumbled, finding herself pouting. "It'll be too suspicious. No taking chances, remember?"

"_Yeah",_ Lin sighed. _"I still want you here, though. I miss you."_

"Me too. It feels so lonely in here", Azula admitted timidly, leaning forward a bit, dropping her mouth on her hand that was grasping the railing. "I even considered letting Avi sleep in my room, but that traitorous mutt ran to Zuko's."

Lin laughed. _"I'll make it up to you on Monday, okay. Dinner?"_

"Not soon enough", Azula pouted.

"_Lunch, then",_ Lin decided. _"I'm kidnapping you for… Shinrin?"_

"No, I want something sweet", Azula said; Lin sucked a breath.

"_Are you sure that's a good idea…? Sugar high so early in the week?"_

"Dummy", Azula bit her lower lip so she would not laugh. "I want something sweet and that's final."

"_As you command, Princess",_ Lin cooed. _"So, I guess… I'll see you tomorrow…"_

"Yeah…" Azula forced the words out.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Hang up!" Azula whined, drumming her fist on the railing like a little petulant child.

"_Not until you say it",_ Lin teased. _"Come on, say it."_

"Say what?" Azula grumbled.

"_You know what. The thing I would kill to hear from you."_

"Yes, I'll marry you."

"_No, the other thing I would kill to hear from you."_

"Yes, I will have sex with you?"

"_No, the other thing I would kill to hear from you."_

"…I…"

"…_Yeah…?"_

"…Um… I don't wanna…"

"_Come on",_ Lin snickered. _"I'll walk you through it. Repeat after me."_

"Repeat after me", Azula obeyed. Sort of…

"_I…"_

"I…" Azula pouted.

"…_love…"_

"…l-love…" the Princess gulped a bit.

"…_you",_ Azula could feel Lin smirking.

"…y—", Azula stopped suddenly, grimacing.

"_Come on",_ Lin goaded. "_We've been going out for awhile and you've never said it even once."_

"Okay", Azula grumbled. She opened her mouth but the words refused to leave her mouth. Clearing her throat, she forced the first one out. "I…" and she literally squeaked. Clearing her throat again, she gave it another try with more success. "I…"

"…_yes…?"_

"…ng, love…"

"…_yeah…"_

Azula gulped, feeling a sweat beading on her forehead. "…y-yo… yo… YouTube!"

She flipped her phone closed and spent one whole second in the state of petrification; next, she grunted and muttered some rapid hissy curses, among them were 'dammit', as she pressed her forehead on the railing.

A wave of energy washing her back tensed her up; she whipped her head around to the temple but she saw nothing. Normal people would have waved it off as an imagination, their minds playing tricks, but Azula was not normal. Besides, it felt familiar to her; like a draft of summer breeze. Warm and welcoming, but with a certain strength to it.

But, it could not be, Azula thought as she got up and tiptoed to the gaping door on the temple, the circular doorway that she poke her head through as she peeked inside the temple.

The room was spacious and bathed in bright sunlight. At the center of the room, fixed at the deepest wall, was an altar dedicated to Agni, represented by a piece of Eternal Flame, flaring on a golden lotus held by two kneeling effigies of Sun Warriors standing on the back of a dragon. The dragon coiled and was facing forward, head aligned below the lotus and had its mouth open, as if ready to breathe fire. On the lower pedestals were lines and lines of lesser spirits standing on what looked like a pyramidal steps and the whole set stood before an altar table where a large incense urn stood with three lit sticks, between a pair of lit red candle, and in front of plates of offerings of fruit and grain.

Sitting in a lotus position before the altar on a cushion in the middle of the room, with his back turned to the door, was a tall old man clad in a flowing robe that fluttered in the air though there was no breeze or draft in the room. His snow white hair was up partially in a top-knot and the rest fell free on his back to the middle of his back. Azula recognized that two-pronged Dragon Crown headpiece anywhere.

The man's shoulder rose and fell as he let out a deep breath, his robe settled down as he was done. The man stood up fluidly and, when he turned around, Azula's suspicion was proven. The Flame Master Roku had not aged a day since the last time Azula saw him.

The Fire Princess straightened up and bowed formally. Roku did not want to have any of it.

"Is that a proper way to greet your great-grandfather, Princess Azula?" the old man's deep voice asked plainly. Azula chewed her lip and fidgeted a little; two seconds later, she caved in and, with a little smile on her face, she dashed and leaped into the tall man's arms, hugging his neck and dangled there since the old man was so much taller. Roku was taller than most people he knew; standing normally, Azula barely reached past his solar plexus.

The Flame Master laughed heartily and hugged back, squeezing the girl and swung her to the sides a little, earning him the girl's sweet giggle. "How are you, little firefly?" the man asked, smiling brightly at the girl who was still hugging him tightly.

"Good", Azula replied as the man set her down on her feet. She tidied up her robe and looked up to the old man.

"You have gotten taller", Roku commented, patting the girl's head. "I felt something hitting my back when you hugged me."

"My cellphone", Azula shrugged.

"You carry two of them with you?" Roku narrowed his amber eyes at the fidgeting girl. "Do you carry a gun with you, Azula?"

"Um… yeah", the girl grumbled.

Roku snickered. "That's my girl", he said, patting the girl head. Grinning, Azula caught that large hand on her head with hers. Roku laughed and took one of her small hands in his and, pressing in on his chest, led the girl out. "I don't condone to the use of firearms, but if it can add to the reassurance of my little firefly's safety, then I suppose why not."

Azula giggled and hugged the old master's arm.

"I miss you, firefly", he said, kissing the girl's hand.

"I miss you too, Grampy", Azula muttered, squeezing the man's arm a little.

They walked down the steps and onto the streets. A group from Azula's pursuers, a squad of armed Royal Procession accompanied by two maids, two of the guards were riding dark-red one-seated battle speeder-bikes –short one-man vehicle with bulky head and large circular headlight, armed with a pair of mounted gun in the front and had the average speed of regular speeder-bikes, designed for urban use-, rounded up the corner ahead and spotted the Princess. They stampeded to her but stopped midway and resumed with less speed at the sight of Roku.

Azula, half-hidden behind the tall man's protective arm, scowled at the lot of them.

"Grampy, they were bullying me", she jabbed an accusing finger at the lot. Roku simply laughed.

"I'm sure it was just some misunderstanding", he said understandingly at the pale-faced Royal Procession captain. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my great-granddaughter and I would like to retire. There is no need to call for a palanquin or accompany us", he added as the captain opened his mouth.

They bowed and parted to give the tall old master and the Princess way. Roku held on to Azula's hand but, as they turned on the corner ahead, he let out a chuckle. Azula bit her lip so she would not laugh. She felt like a little child once more, like the time when her great-grandfather sat her on his lap and taught her how to make fire.

"So", Roku cleared his throat as they walked across a path that cut across a large beautiful grass field; some palace servants and gardeners were littering around the vast field, maintaining the ground. "What is this I hear about you marrying someone? Who was that on the phone?"

Roku's tone was a little gleeful and Azula blushed suddenly.

"And…" he cleared his throat, squeezing Azula's hand a bit, pressing it to his chest once more. "Did I hear something about… sex?"

Azula looked away to hide her crimson cheeks; when she turned to the Flame Master, she noticed the old man was stifling a smirk. Grunting and whining, she tried to pull her hand free but failed, and she hit the man's arm with her free hand repeatedly, grumbling. Roku merely laughed.

"But, you didn't… right?"

"No", Azula scowled.

"Who is this boy? I never knew you have a boyfriend", Roku asked interestedly. "You barely call me anymore."

"I'm busy with work", Azula said. "Is Gramy here with you?"

"No, I'm afraid not", Roku said. "Your Gramy's a bit unwell. Her arthritis is acting up lately."

"Are you staying here?" Azula asked again.

"No", Roku snickered. "You know how I feel about this place."

"You can stay at our place", Azula said hopefully. "You can take Zuko's room. He can sleep on the couch."

"I might take you up on that", Roku replied. "I sure wish to see how you and Zuko are doing in your natural habitat."

Azula snorted.

"But, don't change the subject", Roku tugged on Azula's hand a little. "Back to your boyfriend. Who is he?"

Azula fished out her cellphone from the sleeve of the hand her grampy was grasping. She flipped her cellphone open and opened a picture of her and Lin, the exact same one Lin was using as his wallpaper. "His name's Lin. He's a good person", Azula said, not knowing if it was normal to smile like that as she did so.

"Ah, yes", Roku squinted at the picture. "The twenty-sixth. I know the twenty-fifth, his grandfather, and the twenty-fourth, his great-granduncle; yes, dear, I'm _old_", he added the last one rather dryly.

Azula giggled. "I didn't say anything", she smirked, taking back her phone. She glanced at the picture one last time and flipped her phone closed before she was overwhelmed by the urge to smile again.

"I suppose it's a good thing you are dating him", Roku commented. "He comes from a good family and has made quite a name for himself. Also, you look happier."

Azula smiled. "Yeah…"

She kinda liked this swelling warmth in her chest.

"And… what is this I hear about you… marrying him…?" Roku drawled slowly.

"It was just a joke", Azula shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, little firefly", Roku sighed, turning to the shorter girl and smiled sadly. "Real men never joke about that thing."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Pearl Island District – Golden Tower, Room 8-04; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 12:05 PM)_

Lin slumped his head on Biao's shoulder and groaned. "I'm bored", he complained.

"Then, get dressed", Biao said, turning off the TV on her living room. "Let's go somewhere."

"Speaking of which", Lin sat up, frowning. "Have you arranged for the trip yet?"

"Am I going somewhere?" Biao asked back incredulously.

"No, I meant for my trip", Lin whined like a little kid, tugging on Biao's arm. "Do it, do it, do it now!"

The girl smirked. "Well, it's still my weekend, so…" but, then Lin whined some more. "Alright", she sighed. "I've got some ideas; Southern Water Tribe shouldn't be a problem. I'm still empty on the Earth Kingdom, as for Southern Air Nation, you gonna have to spend some money."

"Okay…?" Lin narrowed his eyes suspiciously; monks were never money-oriented.

"Well, I'm thinking you should do that charity thing for them. A lot of rich people are doing it. You can help provide lodging, fund, donations, you know, for the Nomads. I can contact the embassy to learn more", Biao tapped her chin, thinking. "I'm guessing it'd take a few weeks to set up. Haven't you been there before?" Biao asked. "How _did_ you get there that time?"

Lin's pizza stopped midair. "Well", he took a quick bite to stall as he tried to think up excuses. "Now, that's an interesting question."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Island of Shu Jing – Piandao's School; Spring, One Year Ago)_

Piandao placed his Wheel tile and concluded the counter; as he suspected, a lotus blossom was formed in the battle he had with his pupil. The boy was truly an acolyte of the Order. Sipping his tea calmly, Piandao wiped the tiles off to the drawer under the Pai Sho set that people use to keep their tiles when they were not playing and stood up. Lin followed the gesture and Piandao led him out of his spacious study through stairs and hallways, and they retreated to the abandoned backyard that stood on a hill overlooking the ocean.

Piandao stood at the cliff with his hands clasped in his back, enjoying the sea breeze flapping on his face; the evening sky was mesmerizing.

"When General Iroh sent you to me, I was hoping he was joking", Piandao started. "Our Order rarely accepts former soldiers at such a young age."

Lin did not say anything.

"I will arrange a meeting with an Air Master", Piandao said firmly. "Zhang Wu will contact you with the next instruction."

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Pearl Island District – Golden Tower, Room 8-04; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 12:10 PM)_

Biao closed the bathroom door with a thud as she emerged with a damp hair and a towel draping over her neck, looking worse for wear. "I know I'm a firebender and all", she started her lamentation as she plopped down. "But, I swear… it's too hot today…" she slumped down on the couch and sprawled her arms on the backrest and over the armrest, and her legs on the coffee table. She might be wearing a pair of spandex shorts and a very tight tank top, and a thin layer of water still lingered on her naked skin and her hair, but she felt like she was being grilled alive.

"So, no lunch then?" Lin asked, fanning himself with a magazine.

"No", Biao whined. "Let's order more pizza. Add like five gallons of ice cream. Don't forget the ginger and vanilla ice cream."

Lin snickered, picking up his cellphone; it buzzed as he flipped it.

"_Hey, have lunch with me. Shinrin, now",_ Azula said from the other end without any preamble. _"There's someone I want you to meet."_

"Sure", Lin smiled. "Who?"

"_You'll see",_ Azula sounded rather smug. And happy. The last one made Lin's mind up for him.

"Okay", he said. Lin turned to Biao and saw her melted form sprawled on the couch and coffee table, grunting lowly and looked like hell with her messy damp hair. "Can I take Biao along? I don't feel good leaving her alone. She looks like that thing Avi dragged from the ocean when we played on the beach that one time."

"…"

Lin then remembered about Azula ambushing Biao at night and stuffing her in the closet. "Oh, right… you haven't apologized to Biao, have you?" he pulled the still groaning girl into his arms and tucked her head under his chin, stroking her head like he would a child's. "I mean, how could you? We've promised that we will be good parents and won't ever abuse any of our children. You have to apologize."

"…"

"Oh, come on, Azula", Lin smirked. "This will be a good opportunity."

"…" Lin could hear Azula's sharp breathing.

"I'm taking her, okay", Lin decided. "See you at Shinrin~"

"…_Dummy… dummydummydummydummy!"_

"I love you~" Lin smirked as he hang up. Turning to Biao, he pecked the top of the girl's damp hair. "Come on, we're having dinner with Azula and a mystery guest."

Biao whined. "Do we have to?"

"Come on", Lin struggled to his feet, hugging Biao and pulled her up also. "Get dressed", he marched her to her room and opened her door for her. "Don't embarrass me in front of my future wife", Lin joked, dropping Biao face first in her bed. He left the groaning girl and headed into his room.

He changed into a short-sleeved garb and baggy trousers, and was putting on his boots when Biao opened the door of his room, looking more representable in her casual outfit of a red halter top under a soft-looking light cut-off vest tied with a lace crisscrossing the front, having a darker shade of red, and a pair of shorts and a light silk shawl tied around her waist like a skirt to keep it modest. Her hair had dried and combed, and tied in her usual ponytail.

Biao still looked she was depressed, though.

"Wanna come with me to the Air Temple?" Lin asked, smirking as he joined his cousin on the way out. "It's peaceful there."

"No, I'm busy", Biao said as she closed the door behind her; the automatic lock beeped. "Don't forget to remind me to get more ice cream when we get home."

"What about an ice pack?" Lin suggested as they waited for the elevator. "We used them in the warfront. Earth Kingdom summer is worse than this. I used to keep one in my pants to keep my butt cool when I go to sleep."

Biao snorted, and then her face got serious. "Hey, that's actually a good idea."

Lin blanched as they stepped inside the elevator. "I _so_ did not need the mental image."

"What? What's wrong with my butt?" Biao narrowed her eyes sharply.

"I don't wanna say", Lin darted out as the elevator door open.

"Hey!" Biao frowned offendedly, giving chase to her cousin over the basement parking lot. "Tell me what's wrong with my butt?"

Their Aunt Zanna, visiting her son who lived in the apartment complex, who the two cousins ran past, frowned deeply and followed the two to their car with her eyes.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City, Rose Garden Borough – Shinrin Diner; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 12:30 PM)_

Biao, lying across the backseat while Lin drove his car, groaned as the car stopped in the parking lot under the raised platform where the market and the Shirin Diner were. Lin climbed up and opened the door where Biao's feet were poking out over the door. "Come on, cuz", Lin pulled the girl's legs and set her feet down. He reached to Biao's limp wrists and pulled her up.

"I don't wanna walk, it's too hot", Biao whined.

"So, you want me to carry you?" Lin snickered.

"I carried you a lot when you were a kid. You carry me now", Biao demanded childishly.

"Nope, you're heavy", Lin slung her arms under hers and pulled her up. Still, he turned around, still holding his cousin, and carried her in a piggyback up the stairs and through the market, earning themselves a lot of fond smiles from the many people they knew.

Still, Lin did not feel very good about how hot Biao's skin felt; it was like Azula when she had the fire fever. Although, comparatively speaking, Biao weighed unlike Azula and her lightweight frame.

"Okay", Lin grunted as he bent his knees and set his cousin down on her feet in front of the Diner. Baba, walking past the crowded Diner, carrying an empty tray, waved and smiled at them, pointing at the right side of the Diner where, Lin was sure, Azula had been waiting. True enough, as they entered, Lin noticed the Princess right away, playing an arcade game with a burly man.

The Princess huffed and crossed her arms unhappily when the huge man clad in a combat vest, a bandana, and a pair of tattered trousers threw his head back and laughed. Azula, pouting, walked away from the game. The large man, a Rider, turned and noticed Lin and Biao at the door; he waved and turned back to the arcade for another round against a new challenger.

Azula walked back to the booth directly in front of the AC fixed on the wall behind the counter. Lin took a few seconds to drink in the sight of her. Azula had this wispy smile etched on her face, a sign that she was having a rather good day.

The Princess pushed her twin bangs over her ears as the draft from the AC hit the side of her face and turned to her right to the glass window. She wore her hair in her usual top-knot but with her golden hairpiece, not her usual red one, and she wore a casual summer attire of a short-sleeved garb and a baggy pair of shorts that stopped a little above her knees. She wore her slippers, not her usual boots, and a pair of golden-colored cloth each tied around her upper arm like an armlet. So, overall, had it not been for the slight swell on her chest that her binding could not hide and a feminine Fire Nation fashion of a scarf tied around the waist like a short skirt, also due to the fact that she did not wear her usual makeup, Azula looked like a boy.

A really pretty boy, Lin smiled as Azula noticed their arrival and waved. Lin dragged the half-dead cousin of his to the table and, taking the seat across from Azula, Lin scooted in first and let Biao take the seat at the outside, enjoying an unobstructed draft of cold air from the AC.

Azula, casting an awkward glance at Biao who promptly slumped her forehead on the table and groaned, took Lin's hand and grasped his fingers a little; if Lin did not know better, he would imagine Azula and her bright smile and the small flush on her cheeks were about to burst with happiness. The Princess spoke rapidly. "He knows we're going out but nothing much else. So be cool and follow my lead if anything else comes up."

"Who?" Lin frowned. He did not know why but he had a rather funny feeling washing over him; he would have dismissed it as the air conditioner had it not been warm. As if materializing out of thin air, the tall old man in a layered robe stood beside Azula.

Lin gaped a bit, unable to take his eyes off of the old man, and nudged Biao with his elbow.

"What…?" the girl grunted and raised her head. One look at the old man, she tensed up suddenly. "O-oh, my… F-flame Master Roku…?"

"It is an honor, sir", Lin said and quickly the two cousins got up and offered a formal bow. Roku inclined his head and sat down beside Azula.

"Wow…" Biao gushed with stars in her eyes, life returned to her. "To meet such a great master…"

Roku laughed a little. "Coming from the one who was a step away to mastering her own family style of firebending at such young age", he smiled kindly. "You are too kind."

"Oh, no, no, Flame Master", Biao laughed nervously, shaking her head. "I'm still far from perfecting my techniques, and I am not young at all. Wait… I mean… n-not that young, not _not young_… I… uh…" the poor girl was speechless and slowly hung her head in shame.

Roku smiled anyway. "And you", Roku turned her bright and wise amber eyes to Lin. "The inventor of Fire Compression, one of the only four known firebending techniques that alter the physical property of the flame. Perhaps, _you_ should have the title Flame Master."

Lin chuckled despite the swelling feeling of pride in his chest; to know how it feels, imagine Carlos Santana complimenting you on your guitar play. Azula, sipping her vanilla milkshake, rested her head on the tall Master's arm, looking like a spoilt granddaughter, or a spoilt kitten. Lin stole a smile at her direction and replied humbly. "You are praising me too much, Flame Master. I still have much to learn."

Roku laughed with more intensity. "Please, enough with the formality. Just Master is enough."

"Yes, Mast—", Lin and Biao spoke at the same time and halted at the same time; they glanced at each other briefly and then at the old Master who was sipping his hot tea and Azula who was positively trying not to laugh as she sipped her milkshake noisily. "Yes, Master", Lin said and Biao followed in the middle of his speech.

"Now", the old Master put her cup down; Baba approached their table and refilled his cup with shaking hands and nervous but respectful smile. "As I understand it, you are dating my little firefly here", he slung his left arm over Azula's shoulder and embraced the smaller girl in his arm and almost covered her in his wide sleeve, never taking his eyes off of Lin's.

Lin kept his eyes trained on the Master's suddenly but subtly intense ones. Azula's bare foot pinched his knee and rubbed the spot reassuringly. "Yes, Master", Lin nodded. "For almost a year now. About ten months…?" Lin titled his head inquiringly at Azula.

"How can you be not sure?" Roku drawled slowly; though his tone was a little chilled, there was a faint condescending smile in his eyes. "Is my little firefly so insignificant to you, you don't feel the need to remember how long you have been dating her?"

Azula did not change her uncaring expression but her foot tapped Lin's urgently.

"You misunderstand, Flame Master", Lin smiled at Azula and put his hand on the middle of the table, Azula took it; he chose his words, including how he had just called Roku carefully. "I love your granddaughter—", Azula grasped his fingers. "—_great_ granddaughter", Lin corrected quickly, not taking off his eyes of the girl who seemed to be more interested in the content of her glass she was sipping through a red straw. "I have spent ten months with her in a relationship, a romantic relationship, and, Flame Master", he turned to the old man finally. "We can be together for a hundred years and it will always be just like yesterday when we start going out; it will never be enough."

Roku's eye twitched a bit and he let the smile creep into existence. "You're right", he said to Azula. "He's fearless."

"Like a dragon", Azula smirked smugly, squeezing Lin's fingers. "Grampy, I want more milkshake."

"Another? Dear, that's your third glass", Roku chuckled, squeezing the girl's shoulder.

Azula shrugged. "It's hot", she said simply.

Laughing, Roku picked up Azula's empty glass and raised it a little at Baba; the woman nodded and darted to the kitchen.

"Anyway, I was telling Grampy he should visit your place", Azula said to Lin. "Just to make sure that the place is safe for me or whatnot."

"Absolutely", Lin smiled; Azula had just told him that the Flame Master knew about her often staying at his place overnight. "Maybe the two of you should stay overnight", Lin offered. "My home is near the ocean. We have a lot of breeze and we can spend the day on the beach."

"That is very kind. A beach, you say?" Roku turned to Azula and his left hand on Azula's shoulder moved to her head and he tucked her left bang behind her ear. "What do you think, firefly?"

Azula nodded her head. "I have some clothes there", Azula said; another hint for Lin. "I can call Huang Mei and ask her to bring some of your clothes there."

"I'm staying at a hotel, actually", Roku said.

"I know", Azula sat up as their food arrived; Biao and Lin's too as Azula had ordered for them. "I meant, we can ask Huang Mei to go to your hotel and get some of your clothes."

"I can have my people handle that, dear", Roku smiled as he sipped his tea.

"Azula", Lin called as Azula was about to dig in her spicy soufflé. "Are you forgetting something?"

"Um… no?" Azula evaded cutely.

Lin sighed and grabbed Biao closer by the shoulder. "Are you sure?" Biao had been strangely quiet and even her favorite curry rice with extra sizzle-crisps could not seem to cheer her up; and she looked pale and her skin felt warmer than before. "Come on", Lin goaded.

Azula looked down on her plate and mumbled something.

"…*_mumble*… …*mumble*… …_sorry_… …*mumble*… …*mumble*… _closet_…_"

"What?" Lin cupped his hand around his ear. "Louder, please?"

"I'm sorry… I stuffed you in the closet", Azula grumbled, pouting at her food.

"There you go", Lin reached over to her and tapped her nose with his finger; Azula twitched at his touch and, unable to hide her defiant smile, muttered. "Dummy…"

Roku laughed a little and Azula hit his arm. They enjoyed their lunch with Lin and Roku mostly talking about firebending; Azula was content looking at the two getting along quite well. It made her happy for some reason.

"Biao?" Lin turned to his cousin. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine", Biao muttered though she looked like a vagabond who had just traversed through a desert under a scorching hot sun. Her usually pink lips were deathly pale and her eyes looked tired, and she was sweating a little. She had barely touched her food and had only been playing with her dessert ice cream.

"Are you sure? You look like my laundry when I put too much bleach", Lin said. "Show me your tongue."

"Why don't you show your own tongue?" Biao huffed weakly.

Lin sighed and took her spoon. He scooped her fire-berry ice cream and lifted it to her mouth. "Alright, at least finish your ice cream. Say, 'aaahh'…"

"Aaah—", Biao choked a bit as Lin suddenly grabbed her jaw and held her still, trying to peer into her mouth. "Azula?" Lin called; Azula leaned over the table and, from behind Lin, scrutinized Biao's unusually red tongue.

"Yup…" Azula drawled. "Fire fever. Looks like my tongue when I got it."

"You have fire fever?" Roku asked; Baba, who was refilling the Flame Master's cup, butted in.

"Fire fever, Azula? You?" the kindly old lady asked, full of concern.

"No, her", Azula pointed at Biao.

"Biao?" Baba put her teapot down and moved to Biao, pulling the groaning girl into her belly, pressing a hand on the girl's forehead. The beads of her bandana and her necklaces clicked as she turned to the counter and shouted something in the desert tongue.

And it spread like wildfire. "Biao's sick?" the waitresses and patrons repeated, even to the outside as many people flooded in and began offering pills, medicines, tea leaves, and other folk cures.

In the middle of Kutak, the Water Tribe fisherman, who was explaining how Water Tribe use bass-salamander's scales, frozen by burying it in snow overnight, as cold patches –somehow, offering cures to Biao had turned to the multinational and-cultural exchange of methods to treat fever-, Biao stomped her foot and cried loudly. "I'm fine! It's just a fever!"

"A _fire_ fever!" the whole room, those who were Fire Nation, to be more precise, with the exception of Lin, Azula, and a rather startled Roku, chorused back. "You have to take care of yourself, lvoe", Baba chided motherly, rubbing the girl's shoulder, still holding the sitting girl on her stomach. "So, when you get home, dig up some cold earth on your backyard and put them on your forehead."

"No, Baba", a waitress, a woman of mid-thirty, with obvious tan skin, blue eyes, and brown hair of Water Tribe interjected. "Cold lump of salted ice. Never fail."

"Hey, bass-salamander!" Kutak raised his voice; the whole room broke into murmur against him.

"Just stop, please", Biao nearly sobbed on Baba's robe, grabbing the woman's clothing. "I just want my ice cream and go home and… sleep or something."

The room fell silent, feeling ashamed of themselves. Baba shooed them out and the Diner returned to normal, though it did not stop some of them to stop by their table and placing various sorts of folk remedy and pieces of paper with a recipe of a medicinal soup or the likes scribbled on it, Kutak actually left a bowl of a frozen lump of ice with bass-salamander scales in it.

Baba shook her head in disbelief at the small Water Tribesman who scampered out quickly as she rolled up her sleeves and stepped out of the counter menacingly with a rolling pin. "Baba take care of this, lvoe", she said as she picked up the bowl of scales and headed back to the counter.

Roku, sipping his tea, watched the whole exchange from the beginning with great interest.

Not long after, they found themselves in Biao's convertible –Roku had his driver brought him and Azula to the Diner and he sent the man home-, with Lin driving and Roku on the front passenger seat. Azula and Biao were on the backseat with more ice cream that Baba insisted they brought. The woman had a simple logic that truly hit home: _"If you're hot, you cool it down. Have some more ice cream!"_

Azula was more than happy with her favorite vanilla cherry with Si Wong honey swirl while Biao licked her peppermint lazily and had done so only to prevent it from dripping onto her clothes or worse: her car. Biao liked her car.

Roku was interested in the fact that Lin was driving on the ground level; though Crescent Island where he lived was small and, as the result, did not have similar multi-level traffics to the Capitol, Roku knew that the ground level was reserved for commercial use and the VIP's due to the convenience and the relative emptiness of the street. Roku, at first, wondered if Lin was trying to impress him by flexing some power but, as he glanced at the boy, and even spent a few minutes openly staring at the boy, he saw none of it in the boy's face. Lin kept his gaze on the street and Roku guessed he just wanted to get home quickly for his cousin.

Azula, eyeing Biao with some interest, shoved her ice cream to her; Biao, smiling weakly, for she was familiar with Azula's funny way of apologizing, took a lick. "Hey, that's good", Biao said suddenly. "What's that sweet thing?"

"Si Wong honey", Azula said, licking her ice cream.

Lin smiled as he watched the two girls in the rearview mirror.

* * *

Lu Ten's eyes and brows looked funny up close as he fixed the camera, Lin thought as he lazily eyed the monitor, one of the many fixed on the wall above the fixed in desk along the length of the wall where he was currently putting his feet, slouching in an office chair.

Tapping his comlink he had fixed in his left ear, Lin said. "A little to the left", the captain grinned as Lu Ten grumbled and fumbled with the camera. "Yeap, about right", Lin said, not even looking at the screen as he pulled his sleeve a bit and checked his wristwatch. It said Sunday, 05:08 PM

_(…Fire Nation Colony of Yu Dao, City of Ro Dao – Four Nations Hotel; Spring, Two Years Ago)_

Lu Ten drew away and Lin could see more of him and the hotel room; Lu Ten was wearing a red suit of long-sleeved jacket made of stiff fabric, a white shirt and pair of gloves, and tight maroon pants and dark boots, plus that silly bucket hat. Lin simply felt the obligation to laugh with the comlink on.

"I shalt one day killeth you", Lu Ten growled, puffing his chest and tidying his suit. He walked out of the room with a swagger.

Rain and Taka, dressed casually like your average couple who walked down the street everyday, entered the back of the surveillance van where Lin was in and dumped plastic bags filled with snacks and drinks.

"Where have you two been?" Lin demanded with a mock pout. "It's so lonely in here. I'm all alone, cold and scared and hungry. Rain, is that ice cream smear on the corner of your mouth?"

The emerald-eyed girl gasped and frantically rubbed that spot. When she found nothing, she scowled and slugged the boy on the arm. Huffing, Rain squeezed through the small door that connected the back of the van to the front part where the front seats were and slammed the door.

Snickering, Taka took off his beanie and fixed his comlink that was loosened. "How's it looking?"

Lin swiveled his chair back to the screens. "Empty so far", he said, giving the screens displaying the corridors and the various angles of the presidential room a glance. "Oh, wait", the boy straightened out suddenly, tapping his comlink, as a very distinctive figure entered the room. "Attention, infil-team, the arrow is in the quiver. I repeat, the arrow is in the quiver."

"_Roger that"_, chorused from Bara, Lu Ten, Rocky, and Jon.

And sitting down in the couch, were Air Monk Tenzin and two of his disciples.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, the Coastline below the Manor; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 02:05 PM)_

Roku stored his hands in his sleeves as he closed his eyes and let the wave of sea breeze wash over him, sending his long hair and beard and his robe fluttering back. As it subsided, he turned to the youths who were holding their wide stances and he was impressed with Lin's performance. Many youths like him, who chose the path of less violence, had abandoned much of their basic training but Lin had shown himself disciplined and Roku was thoroughly impressed.

"Now", the old man said; the youths stood up. "We will do the next part of our training. It's easy", he smiled. "Try to beat me."

Lin raised his hand.

"Yes?" Roku arched a brow.

"Um… Master, why is she here?" Lin pointed at Biao who was standing at his left with shoulders slumped.

"She has a fire fever", Roku shrugged. "Her temperature is high, her inner fire is running rampant due to the sun. The best way to cure it, of course, is to let the fire out."

Lin blinked several times and, turning to Azula, he whispered. "Wow… old folk's logic."

"Can't argue with that", Azula muttered back.

Roku cleared his throat loudly. "Now, if you are ready…" he smirked and tendrils of flame flared to life around him. They moved and flared, and solidified into a coiling think vine without the Master moving a muscle. Lin and Biao were struck with awe as the upper part of the flame transformed into the head, wings, and front claws of a dragon; all that happened without Roku moving a single muscle. Azula smirked as she delivered the first strike, leaping forward and punching a blast of her blue flame at the dragon.

The dragon lashed at her and Azula jumped high to the air; Lin and Biao, directly behind her, snapped out of it at the last second. The dragon crashed at their feet and their leaped to safety, tumbling to the sand. Turning to each other, the two had similar look of awe in their faces. "Well", Biao straightened up, rolling her shoulder. "Now, we know where Azula got it from."

* * *

_(Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation Colony of Yu Dao - City of Ro Dao – Four Nations Hotel; Spring, Two Years Ago)_

Lin, dressed in a casual attire of nondescript dark shirt and jacket, with a brown woolen scarf around his neck and a cap hanging low, hands in his pockets as his dark-red Fire Nation boots made no sound on the shiny brownish tiled floor of the hotel lobby. He weaved his way through the people, unconsciously tugging his jacket down; his gun strapped on his waist felt so real against him.

Lin made a turn on the right and walked past the well-lit red marble walls; a bellboy smiled at him and Lin nodded back. At the end of the hallway, a double glass door was waiting for him and they were pulled open by a pair of bellhops; Jon, one of the bellhops, smiled at him and nodded politely. Two steps into the scarcely crowded hotel restaurant, another bellhop, a clumsy one, ran into Lin while he was carrying a tray of fresh napkin.

"Oh, I am so sorry, sir", Lu Ten apologized profusely, slipping a tiny electronic pad into Lin's pocket.

Lin muttered his. "That's okay", and moved deeper into the rows and rows of fancy thin-legged clothed tables and padded chairs, ignoring Lu Ten's offer for. "—free cookies and muffin, sir, as an apology; really good, fresh from the oven, melts in your mouth. Yeah…? No…? Well, okay, then."

Lin tried so hard not to laugh and kept his face straight as he moved to the table by the window. He sat down and a waitress, a pretty girl with pale skin, brown hair, and a pair of strikingly cobalt blue eyes approached, smiling sweetly. Lin found the way her red lips curve mesmerizing. She was wearing the uniform of white shirt and tight skirt of red with blue accent, and a blue plastic headband keeping her brown ponytailed hair off her face though a small thin strand escaped and tipped down to her delicate left brow.

"Today's special, sir", the waitress chirped as she opened the menu booklet and put in on the table in front of Lin. "Clam Chowder and garlic bread; fresh from the oven", she smiled but then she fumbled. "Um, th-the garlic bread, I mean; not the chowder. We know how to properly cook a chowder, sir", the girl swallowed and laughed nervously.

The corner of Lin's mouth tingled. "That's good to hear", he closed the booklet and handed it back. "But, I'm actually waiting for someone. Maybe just a cup of tea while I wait."

"Oh", the girl perked up a bit. "Sure, of course. Um… girlfriend?" she drawled, trying her luck.

Lin stifled a smile. "Jasmine and a drop of honey."

The girl smiled back. "Jasmine and a drop of honey, coming right up."

Lin sighed a bit and took of his hat. He had seated himself on the table in the middle of the row at the farthest wall from the door. On his left was the glass window overlooking the street and, in front of him, of the five tables, only one was occupied. A bulky man in a green coat, sporting the short hair fashion of the so-called 'Republic City' was sitting there, reading a newspaper with his back turned on Lin.

Lin turned his gaze to the window, looking as if he was daydreaming while, in reality, he was checking the faint reflection on the glass, counting and assessing the people in the restaurant. There was a family in the middle of the room, enjoying dinner happily, and there were one or two couples out there, mostly occupying tables that were set along the wall like his. There was also one loner, a lady in a red cocktail dress with wavy dark hair veiling the side of her face, making it hard for Lin to check her out in the reflection. Lin felt wary of her but at least his Riders, posing as workers, were free to move and could handle her should she proved to be a threat.

A ray of evening sunlight pierced through the cloudy Western Earth Kingdom spring around the time Lin's tea arrived. "Nice, isn't it?" the waitress commented as she put the empty cup and the pot of steaming jasmine tea, looking at the sky behind the glass. "I see you're not from around here", her blue eyes flicked briefly to Lin's ponytail; it had been years since the youths of Yu Dao and the Western Colonies cut their hair short as a protest for the occupation of either Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, and they had kept it as a fashion of their 'Republic City'. "Fire Nation?"

Lin would not even bother to hide his amber eyes and pale skin. "Visiting a sick cousin", he shrugged, smiling quaintly; his Cousin Ree, who lived in Yu Dao, _was_ sick.

"Oh, how nice", the waitress chuckled, but then she blanched. "U-um, I-I meant about you visiting your sick cousin, not that he was sick, of course. It's, uh… w-well…"

Lin actually laughed, pinching the part between his eyes; the blushing waitress pouted a bit but she too chuckled. "You…" her smile softened. "You have a kind face. Coming across the space to visit a sick relative; that does sound… fitting", she put down a bowl of corn cookies on the table. "On the house", she said, smiling, and bowed a little before going away.

Lin smiled a bit, feeling lighter, as he poured his tea. Picking up the small ball-shaped cookie and popping it into his mouth, Lin stole a glance to his right, to the restaurant; the woman in the red dress had not moved. Sipping his cup, Lin waited for further instruction; the comlink, the ear bud he wore deep in his left ear, was as silent as ever.

But, then, following a buzz, a female voice announced in low tone. "_Initiate_."

While Lin checked around the room for his Riders who, as his eyes fell upon them, covertly nodded, scratched their noses, or stoked their hair, all done with their left hands, one by one the other team leaders called in. Lin rubbed his nose and whispered. "Restaurant, ready", and picked up another cookie. Taking a gulp, hiding the cookie in his hand, Lin placed a few yuans, the paper currency of the Republic City, and got up, picking up his hat.

His Riders made no move and assumed their cover like usual with the exception of Lu Ten who, carrying a bucket of ice, tripped and felt, sending ice cubes flying everywhere, distracting everyone. Ignoring his friend's loud apologies, Lin slipped into the door at the corner of the room marked _'Authorized Personnel Only'_ and began walking down the short corridor of white leading to the busy kitchen ahead. He turned to his right and pulled the switch on the fire alarm. The red siren and the alarm flared to life; the kitchen staff calmly evacuated the room, choosing the other exit leading directly out, looking more confused than concerned.

Lin waited until the last person was out through the door before he moved across the room towards that very same door and, pressing his ear to the door until he could not hear any footsteps, he pushed it open and walked through it. Another corridor met him, a long one with an overhead exit sign pointing to a turn at the right in the middle and a pair of guards clad in dark metal armor, playing cards standing up guarding a door at the far end of the hallway.

Lin moved calmly to the turn at the right and hid behind it. He flicked his corn cookie to the wall and let it bounced away to the part of the corridor where he came from; the sound was sharp in the soundproofed part of the hotel where the alarm did not reach. Lin readied himself as he heard the clicking of the guards readying their shotguns, heavy protection for a hotel, and their footsteps inching closer to his position. Lin, for some reason, was choosing between a melee combat or drawing his gun, knowing full well that it was too late _now_.

Still, it was a strange exhilarating feeling not unlike when, playing a game of hide-and-explode, the 'it' walked past by your hiding spot, not knowing you were there. Inhaling slowly and letting his breath still, Lin let the guards walk pass him. Or, at least, that was his decision. Sadly, one of the guards, the one who was closest to his hiding spot, noticed him.

Lin grabbed the length of his shotgun with both hands and yanked it, staggering the guard as he wore the strap on him, then he slammed the butt of the gun to the guard's gut, and then his face. The second guard aimed his shotgun at the boy frantically but Lin pushed the aim away with his left hand and his right fist landed a hook on the guard's jaw, knocking him down. The first guard, now bleeding on the face, regained his bearing a little. Lin was already on him though, raining punches on his face and open-palmed strikes on his armored torso, ending it with a kick that sent him flying backward to the ground, groaning.

Turning to the second guard who was trying to get up, Lin wrestled the shotgun from him and spun it, twisting the strap that the guard was wearing around his neck. Lin pulled hard, aiding his effort by pressing the guard down with his knee; five seconds later, the guard stopped struggling and passed out. Dropping the fainted guard, Lin turned back to the door at the end of the hallway and walked there, tidying up his clothes as he walked, stomping the still groaning second guard on the face as he walked past him, knocking him out cold.

Calming his thumping heart, Lin pulled the door open and entered the busy lobby; the guests were ushered out by the workers, one of them was Bara, wearing the long-sleeved jacket and short skirt, like the female version of Lu Ten and Jon's uniform, upon noticing Lin on the corner of her eyes, added more volume and urgency in her voice, distracting the people around.

Lin slid though the main lobby without a hitch and slipped into the main receptionist counter and headed through the small door behind the counter. It led to a yet another corridor where two sets of simple looking elevator was in, to be used only by employees.

Lin pressed the button, the only button pointing up and saw it lit in red light. Before he could do anything else, someone shouted. "Hey!" another pair of guard approached from behind him; Lin turned but kept himself between the guards and the button so they would not see it. The guards were armed with batons dangling on their waist and a handgun holstered on the other side, no heavy firepower.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" one of the guards, a man with beard and moustache circling his mouth, demanded. "This place is for personnel only."

"I know that", Lin said condescendingly. "I just get off but I forgot something in the storeroom upstairs."

"Don't you know that there's a fire going on?" the other guard said; they looked more relaxed now, but still stern. "We shouldn't use elevators—"

"There you are!" a female voice came from the door behind the receptionist counter. The waitress with the cobalt blue eyes was carrying a paper bag; her hands were on her hip and she looked slightly miffed. "You left this", she said as she advanced to Lin.

"Thanks", Lin took the bag and the waitress took his lips, hugging the boy's head and pressing herself to him. The two guards looked uncomfortable.

"What?" the waitress scowled at them, still latched onto Lin. "Never seen people making out before, perverts?"

The two guards tensed up. "There's a fire going on—"

"There's no fire", the waitress snapped. "A bozo tripped the alarm, that's all."

"Well, go on, then", Lin said to the guards, smirking. "We have some…" he turned to the girl and snickered. "… business to attend to…"

The girl giggled and kissed him again. The elevator arrived and the two lovebirds, not even parting for air, staggered into it.

"Good luck", one of the guards said, earning him a slap in the arm from the other guard as the elevator door slide closed.

Lin and the blue-eyed girl broke away and, as the girl tapped her comlink and said. "We're in", Lin took a parcel of explosives wrapped in newspaper from the paper bag and took out the electronic pad Lu Ten handed him. He pressed his thumb on the pad that was as big as a stamp and the timer turned on at five minutes, and Lin put it on the parcel. The blue-eyed girl, taking out a roll of tape from her pocket, attached the timer on the bomb while Lin held it in place.

"So", the blue-eyed girl smirked as she stripped down to her sports bra and panties; Lin politely averted his eyes. "Do you think this will work?"

"Sure", Lin netted his fingers and held his stance, giving the girl a boost, helping the girl and her slim and very attractive half-naked figure to climb up and reach to the ceiling hatch on the elevator.

"It's good, though", the girl commented, might or might not know that her naked abdomen rubbing on the sixteen-year-old boy was a very _very_ foreign experience for the latter. "When the war is over, maybe we can do this fulltime. We can join the Imperial Agents and play spy everyday."

"That actually sounds good", Lin replied, trying not to think too much on how soft the girl's skin felt and how sweet she smelt. Lin wondered if all girls were like that.

"Got it", the girl got down and put the duffle bag on the floor. She zipped it open and dressed herself in the simple shirt and trousers she found in it, and wore the belt with the handgun strapped on the waist. The last was her casual jacket to hide her gun and a pair of boots to replace her not-made-for-running slightly heeled shoes. "I do hope this works, Captain", the girl muttered as she pulled off her blue headband.

"It will", Lin said reassuringly, watching the girl stuffing her disguise into the duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. "By the way", Lin's voice dropped to whisper as they stood side by side in front of the door. "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

The girl gasped offendedly. "None of your business", she huffed.

"You have a boyfriend?" Lin teased.

"Shut up."

"Girlfriend?"

"Harassment."

The elevator dinged and the door slid open. They moved out and walked across the corridor of the twenty-fifth floor in silence; Lin carrying the paper bag with the ticking bomb in it and the girl with the duffle bag. The corridor was empty, being a floor for their high-class rooms, and the wallpaper was that of pale orange on the upper half of the wall and the lower half was plated with redwood; along with the blue carpet and the amber colored lighting, the whole place looked like it was trapped in perpetual twilight. For Fire Nation like them, Lin and the blue-eyed girl found the place soothing.

"Number?" the girl muttered, walking on the right, scanning the doors on her side.

"25-06", Lin muttered back, checking the door on his side.

"Got it", the girl stopped. The two of them took position at the sides of the door and Lin took out a flashbang from his pocket and tossed it to the girl; the girl caught it and Lin detached himself from the wall and kicked the door open. The girl pulled the safety pin of the grenade and tossed it into the room. The flashbang went off with a soft but sharp bang and it was followed by the frantic scream of multiple men. Lin went next and tossed his paper bag into the room without abandoning his cover, a second before a strong gust of wind blew through the opening of the door with enough force to send several pieces of broken porcelain and glasses that littered on the floor out.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor, the Coastline below the Manor; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 02:28 PM)_

The flaming dragon lunged at Lin; the boy leaped to the side and twirled elegantly. Biao leaped high in the air and sent a barrage of flame to the dragon's body but it was clear that her fire was inferior; it did not even disturb the flow of Roku's flame. Azula, at a safe distance, fighting smart as usual, kicked a couple blasts of blue fire at the dragon with more effect but it was still not enough.

Lin jumped and twirled, gaining momentum, and landed in a vertical spinning kick that sent a powerful arc of flame sailing through the sand towards the dragon's neck; his flame carved a significant chunk off the dragon's flaming flesh. Azula, taking the chance, leaped and landed a sharp blast with her punch, further weakening the dragon. Biao and her wicked flame whip beheaded the fire beast in a slash.

The girl whooped and Lin and Azula smirked at each other. Roku laughed and assumed a fighting stance, much to the other three's chagrin. "I'm kidding. That is quite enough", the old Master straightened up. "I was actually hoping you would use Fire Compression, Young Master."

Lin cringed inwardly at the way he was addressed. "I see no need for it, Master", Lin bowed.

"I see", Roku nodded, ignoring Azula who was pestering him by tugging on his sleeves. "To have strength and the will to restrain it; Jeong Jeong did a good job. And yes, firefly", he sighed at Azula. "You can go play in the water now."

In a blaze of red, Azula darted to the waves, stripping down her training attire and leaping into the ocean in the bathing suit she was wearing underneath.

"And how are you doing, Young Lady?" Roku asked Biao kindly.

Biao took a big sniff of the air and smiled brightly, color returning to her face. "Much better, Master", she bowed. "I thank you for your guidance."

"Biao! A starfish-squid is chasing meee!"

"I used to kill the roaches for her", Biao explained to Lin, bowing a little at Roku. "I'm coming", Biao too ran to the ocean, pulling her shirt over her head. "Just keep rolling in the shallow water", she tried not to laugh as Azula did precisely that; she swore, sometimes the girl was just too easy.

Lin chuckled at the two girls rolling in the shallow water. "I wonder how badly can beat us if you fight us seriously", Lin confessed.

"Can't help yourself from wondering, can you?" Roku laughed.

Then, to appease the boy's silent request, he punched a giant trail of flame that cut through the sand and the water towards the ocean.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor; __Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 07:15 PM)_

Roku, clad in his sleeping robe, traced the sound of people chattering to the living room where the three kids were slouching in the couch, already comfy in their sleeping attire. The girls were in their nightrobes and the boy in his shirt and baggy shorts.

"Azula, come. It's time for bed", Roku called.

"Grampy", Azula whined, putting a hand over the lower end of her phone. "I'm not a kid anymore! It's only seven."

"Is it?" Roku chuckled, joining them in the couch. Azula resumed her conversation.

"Zuzu, just bring my stuff with you to the office. Have Mai drive my car", she repeated her order. "I don't care who grandma sets you up with. It's your fault for not coming out with Mai. Just tell Mai not to scratch my car and Avi rides in yours. See you, bye."

She flipped her phone closed and leaned onto her great-grandfather's side. "Zuko's dating too. We're not telling anyone about it. I know about Zuko but Zuko doesn't know about me, so…"

"I see", Roku sighed a bit as he enveloped his little firefly in his arm. "Things were much more straightforward in my days, I'd say. Yes, children, I am _that_ old", the old Master addressed the three.

Giggling, Azula picked up the remote. "Grampy, come watch a movie with us. I picked something you'd like."

"Oh?" the old man arched a brow. Azula pressed a button on the remote and the DVD player turned on. "You, little…" he growled a bit, then he chuckled as he pinched the girl's nose.

Azula smirked as she cranked up the volume and so they watched the movie simply titled _Flame_, based loosely on the life of the Flame Master Roku himself. It supposedly covered some part of the Master's adventure in his youth. Roku's history of the twelve years he spent travelling all over the Four Nations were famous but it left many holes in the timeline that the Master himself was rather reluctant to fill. There were many accounts where Roku supposedly do something here and there, though. In this movie, the twenty-something Roku had supposedly joined the bloody Earth Uprising, a rather dark era in the history of the Earth Kingdom happening more than eighty years ago.

In the middle of the movie, Azula slowly and gradually pulled away from her grampy on her right and leaned little by little to her left where Lin was. She scratched the boy's arm a bit, signaling him that it was okay to hug her, which he did, slinging his arm over her shoulder and pulling her close, and Azula snuggled closer into him, grabbing onto the arm that circled her neck.

"My tummy feels funny", she said.

"You had too much milkshake", Lin replied, repositioning his arms as Azula got even closer to her and he held her with both arms. Azula climbed onto his lap and Lin held her by the waist. Resting her back on Lin's chest, Azula pulled his right hand over her belly and Lin began rubbing her there. Azula liked it when Lin rubbed her belly.

Then, unexpectedly, Azula nudged the side of Lin's face with her head and, as Lin turned to her, she kissed him on the lips. Roku glanced at them with a smile on his face. It would seem that his little firefly had found a good match.

Still, Roku was concerned. The fact that his great-granddaughter had a room in Lin's home, plus the fact that Lin lived alone, Roku did not like to think of what the two youths could do with no one but a maid robot to supervise them.

And so, after the movie was done and the kids went to bed, Roku found himself standing at his great-granddaughter's door. He knocked and Azula opened her door, hair already in her ponytail rubbing her eyes. "Grampy…" she yawned, stepping back into her room. "What is it?"

"I'm just tucking you in", Roku smiled, following the girl to the bed. The room, she thought, was really hers; with a line of stuffed animals at the head of the bed, a laptop, a PSP, and several computer gadgets on the desk, and books and magazines on the nightstand, littering the floor, and the bookrack. There was also a small revolver on the nightstand and it sort of hit Roku of how much Azula had grown. He firmly decided to extend his visit in the Capitol.

"I'm okay", Azula said sleepily, getting back into her blanket; Roku pulled the cover over her shoulder and jokingly pulled the nearest stuffed animal, a turtle-chimp, and put it in front of the girl. Azula smiled weakly as she hugged the chimp.

"You're worried", Azula guessed, closing her eyes.

For someone who was so awkward in any social situation, Azula had a keen insight. "I am", Roku confessed. "I can't seem to accept just how much you have grown."

Azula's eyes fluttered open slowly and she eyed her grampy for a few seconds. Then, she raised her head and placed it on the old man's lap. Roku sighed and stroked her hair. "You don't have to worry", Azula whispered. "I'm fine."

"Have you…" Roku started but stopped himself; the very idea is absurd. Azula was his little firefly!

"No, Grampy, we haven't had sex", Azula said bluntly. Roku felt both a hard jolt to his stomach and a wave of warm relief in his chest.

"But…" Azula smirked impishly. "We're planning to."

She felt the old man tensing up.

Roku was about to say something but Azula sat up, laughing. "I'm kidding, Grampy", she said, falling into the old man's chest. "Okay, so we've done stuff…" and as she felt the old man tensing up again, she added quickly. "But, Zuzu's gone all the way!"

"Azula, it's still wrong", Roku tried patiently. Azula extracted herself from his arms roughly and, for a moment there, Roku noticed a flash of fury.

"Before you judge, you should really hear the whole story", Azula said rather coldly.

In the meantime, in Biao's room, Lin was tucking his cousin in. Her fever came back a bit and Lin forced a spoonful of Azula's fever syrup down her throat. It made Biao drowsy.

"Have I told you that you're crazy?" Biao slurred, smacking her lips, looking a bit drunk; Lin had checked if the medicine had expired but, then he remembered the pharmacist warning him that the medicine might have a funny side effect should the firebender had an active inner fire and Biao _was_ training with them on the beach.

"Not in recent weeks, cuz", Lin snickered, pushing the girl down again as Biao seemed to try to get up and did not even realize it. "You're losing your touch", he said, tucking her back in her cover.

"Are you going out?" Biao asked, yawning wide, noticing Lin wearing his armored garb with his hood down. "You're really crazy. We have a VIP here."

"I know, I know", Lin sighed, pulling his hood on. "But, I did take last night off."

"You have your Riders", Biao tried to get up again but Lin pushed her shoulders down.

"They only patrol the Rose Garden", Lin said, pecking the girl on the forehead. "Besides, I got intel about some drug deal going on."

"Wait", Biao pulled his wrist. "Tell me a bedtime story."

"Biao, we've been over this; it's the fever syrup talking", Lin said patiently but, then, Biao gave him the sad puppy-dog face. Sighing, Lin sat back down in the bed, allowing Biao to lay her head on his lap. "Once upon a time—"

"Boring."

"You haven't even heard it yet", Lin frowned.

"I'm still unsure about arranging your trip to the Air Temple", Biao said suddenly. "You've been there before, right? How did you get there?"

Lin felt his lips parted but he closed them again. "Well", he cleared his throat, stroking Biao's head, feeling how different it feels compared to when he stroked Azula's head. "It's a long story."

Biao's head dropped to the side and she started snoring softly. Lin snickered and tucked her back in, kissing her forehead. He put on his long flowing robe and exited through window.

* * *

_(Air Nation, Southern Air Temple; Summer, One Year Ago)_

Gyatso, sitting on a cushion on the other side of the circular table with Pai Sho grid carved on the middle, looked serene as Lin stared at the middle of the grid.

"Master", the boy asked. "Do I still deserve happiness?"

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Jawwa District; Summer, Day 21, Month 5, Sunday, 11:14 PM)_

Lin punched the already messed-up face of the thug and let out another one, a harder one that sent him flying back; a couple of thugs armed with pieces of wood charged from behind him. Lin grabbed his robe and spun, waved his long robe to obscure the assailants' vision, and twirled, building the momentum for the sweeping spinning kick that dropped the two on the jaw so hard they too spun and landed hard on the ground.

The Blue Spirit leaped from nowhere and landed on the back of another thug who was rushing to Lin. Another thug shot a fire blast at the Blue Spirit but the masked vigilante rolled to the side. Lin took care of this one with a fire blast of his own.

"Then", Lin resumed his story, holding his footing against a hooligan who charged at him and grabbed him around the waist like a wrestler. "He made this fire dragon and without even moving! Guess I can see where your sister gets her firebending talent from, huh?"

The Blue Spirit and a rather well-built thug exchanged barrages of fire, evading and physically stopping each other's blast, and, at the same time, both molded a ball of flame with different movements and, at the same time, let loose a stream of fire. The two flaming streams collided with each other and pushed against each other. The Blue Spirit, sadly, let go of his own a fraction second sooner than the hooligan.

"Well… I suppose it sort of skipped you, huh?" Lin commented untactfully at Zuko's less than impressive firebending feat. "I think I have a theory why you sort of suck at—"

Even with mask on, Lin knew Zuko was glaring.

"Hey, I'm just saying", Lin grinned the moment before he slipped in front of the masked vigilante and took the giant fire blast heads on, catching it in his hands and molding it into a smaller, denser, and more compact flame, claiming it as his own as shown by the brighter hue the orange flame assumed under his command due to the bright yellow tint it now possessed as it fed on Lin's firebending chi.

The black-clad vig— _mercenary_ launched the flame and it exploded upon contact with the ground at the feet of the firebender thug, sending him flying back through the smoke and he hit the wall of the warehouse behind him hard.

"Is that all?" Lin asked, dusting his hands, looking around the havoc the two of them had wrecked in the empty warehouse. Writhing and unconscious bodies all around, patches of burning flame casting light the broken light bulb could no longer do, and bags of white powder had fallen from the metal suitcase, some had punctured.

To answer Lin's question, a machine roared, followed by a beam of bright light aimed at them; the two youths shielded their eyes from the light but the noise that grew closer and the rumble in the air was an indication and a cue to leap away. The speeder-bike missed them by an inch and the two quickly gave chase on foot. The thug, wearing a duffle bag they knew carried the gold pieces on his back, leaped the bike and it speared through the thin plank wall into the empty compound.

As they got out, brighter now due to the lamppost and moonlight, Zuko and Lin ran to the sides, each running on an opposite direction; the Blue Spirit's job was to keep an eye of things while he wait for the police and the… well, Lin, would be the one giving the chase. It was their standard protocol. Lin, running fast after the criminal, fumbled with the buttons on his left bracer; from the darkness, his speeder-bike disengaged the stealth function, turning from relatively invisible back to its sleek dark rosewood-red, and its headlight turning on as it sped towards its owner like a faithful steed. Lin let burst of flame erupted on the soles of his feet and he flew a few feet up in the air; his speeder-bike sped below him and Lin landed on the seat perfectly. Grinning, the mercenary accelerated and thus began the chase.

The thug flew expertly through the street level traffic and they flew out of the compound; the escaping thug rammed through the main wire gate. Lin leaned forward to brace himself and accelerated further. He felt his robe fluttering wildly and, Agni, he hoped it would not get caught on anything.

Lin flicked his head back and let the lighter fabric of his robe, the larger hood of the robe, to be more precise, slide off of his head; the hood of his garb still clung to his head. Then, the whole cloth reacted; his sleeves twisted and shrunk, now tightly hugging his arms like wet cloth, and his cape and hood shrunk into a strip on the back of his armor. His robe now formed a layer of cloth covering his upper arm, the line of the collarbone, and the upper back, darker than the armor.

Mentally, Lin felt his weapons that clung to him; his knives were out of question, his portable swords, one dangling on his right waist and the other strapped horizontally on his back, were obsolete, his Altair on his front waist was hard to reach when he was leaning this much. Lin still had his two pistols in thigh holsters on both legs; his Alioth guns that Zuko, at some point, called 'box gun'.

The Alioth model was a new and an original product of his Industry; it is unique due to the extra part the size of the grip in front of the trigger where several extra features, like flashlight, laser point, and even a compartment for an extra magazine, are built-in. It was a huge hit among the local law enforcers and security guards due to its convenience. Police officers are known to prefer Alioth Sec-NG D2 that allow functional switch between the two magazine slots and loaded them with a stun round and a deadly round each, and common security guards were often issued Alioth Sec-NG D1 that had no extra magazine place as the slot had been designed to hold extra power cells to allow the use of a more powerful flashlight and a small chamber that shoots stun darts.

Unlike the Sec-NG series though, the ones Lin employed was working prototypes of the yet released model that was more oriented towards the military, with heavier reinforced frame to allow the use of military caliber rounds. Lin's marketing people saw a problem with that, with the weight and the size, making it inconvenient for the use in military where there were many other models that allow the use of heavy calibers without having such bulky built. Lin's guns had been customized for urban use without sacrificing its study built and he had loaded stun rounds in all his guns.

Fire Nation is the only country who had such technology; the other Nations simply had no means to make their own non-lethal round. Water Tribe bullets, made of ice crystals, form superfrozen frost bolt that bites like sharp icicle with the intensity close to diamond and the rapid freezing property of liquid nitrogen; there was simply no way to tone down these property without damaging the integrity of the bullet.

Earth Kingdom green crystals, when supercharged, produce a bolt that was extremely concussive in nature. Earth Kingdom scientists had tried to make their own version of shock rounds by decreasing the active content in the crystals but they could not find the perfect equation to make it work. So far, the result had been either too little or too much; either it still had the lethality of a normal bullet or it lacked power and simply fizzed out in the chamber.

Fire Nation scientists employed the hardy nature of Earth Kingdom green crystals and the freezing property of Water Tribe ice crystals, and invented a working mixture with Fire Nation incendiary and more unstable red crystals. Water Tribe ice crystal curbs down the incendiary nature of Fire Nation red crystals and Earth Kingdom green crystals added more to the concussive punch of the bullets. Fire Nation stun bullets fired a purple bolt that, when it hit a regularly clothed target, might cause injuries no deadlier than some non-severe bleeding, and would produce welts and even deliver enough concussive force to break bones through armor.

And, as Lin had just proved with his fifth shot, had force to punch through the metal shell of a regular speeder-bike and had enough incendiary property to ignite the fuel tank.

The speeder-bike the thug rode exploded at the back and it nose-dived into the street, clawing the asphalt, sending sparks everywhere and the screaming thug straight into the side of a large trash container, denting the red metal box.

Lin turned his steer to the side and skidded to stop a second before the fallen bike exploded. The thug tried to get up but fell back down to the ground. Checking his bracer, Lin noticed how late it was; he decided to simply shoot a couple of round into the thug's chest until he got knocked out. Lin was just about to call the police, or ask one of the curious people of the neighborhood to do it, when he heard the siren wailing from afar. Smirking, the mercenary pulled his hood lower and mounted his bike, storing his gun back.

Lin had to admit, as he sped through the streets, running away from the scene before the police arrived, he liked the action.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor; Summer, Day 22, Month 5, Monday, 01:18 AM)_

Roku was standing on the cliff at the back of the Manor that overlooked the ocean; he closed his eyes and let the fresh night breeze flew past him. The light from the Manor did not reach him and the moonlight cascading upon him was radiant. The old Master opened his eyes as the breeze subsided and sighed.

"Somehow, I am not surprise that you are up", Lin, clad in his homey attire, said rather jovially. "Is your room not to your liking, Flame Master?"

Roku ignored his question. "You are Lin, the twenty-sixth", he said. "In the long history of your family, only twenty five other individuals have been awarded the honor of your clan name. I know the twenty-fourth", Roku smiled faintly. "I consider him a brother. And the twenty-fifth, the Admiral; a great honorable man", _true, but each with their own flaws, _Roku added mentally, _like you._

Lin stepped closer and stood by the Master's side but said nothing.

"Azula told me of how serious you two are", Roku got to the point.

Lin, for some reason, smiled. "I see", he did not want to deny it. "Flame Master, I want you to know that I love your great-granddaughter", he said earnestly. "Have you ever killed someone?"

"Interesting segue", Roku commented though there was no humor in his voice. "I'm afraid, I have."

"It never really gets easier, does it?" Lin whispered, his eyes cast on the stilled water below. "People say it would; people got it wrong. Killing never gets easier; you only grow numb to it", he said. "Flame Master, Azula is…" a smile crept into his mouth. "…a strange strange girl", Lin chuckled a little. "She's strange, she's quirky, she's… just strange."

Roku felt the corner of his mouth tipping up.

"And I love her", Lin declared, turning to the tall old Master with a light of determination in his eyes. "I admit, Azula and I are intimate physically, perhaps more than any parents would be comfortable with—"

"She's fourteen", Roku interjected; Lin felt a wave of warm air radiating from the Master.

"Master", Lin got down on his knees and kowtowed. "Before you judge us, please, hear me out."

And so, Lin told the old Master everything.

Everything…

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor; Summer, Day 22, Month 5, Monday, 01:45 AM)_

Azula nodded off to sleep but jolted awake at the movement. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and tugged Biao's sleeping robe tighter. She kept no sleeping attire in the Manor anymore and had to borrow one of Biao's; it was too big for her and she had to fold her sleeves up and tug her front closed every now and then. Biao was bigger and taller than her, taller than even Lin.

The Princess got off of the stool at the kitchen counter and raised her arms up, stretching; she felt gentle hands warping themselves around her arms and she smiled. Lin gently led her arms down and wrapped them around her waist along with his as he embraced her from behind.

"Why are you here in the kitchen?" Lin asked, smiling as he leaned down and kissed the girl's neck. "You should be asleep."

"I was waiting for you", Azula said, closing her eyes and relaxing back into Lin's embrace. "How did it go?"

"Oh, fine", Lin smirked mischievously. "Your grampy and I came into an understanding. Isn't that right, Master?"

Azula tensed up and tried to get away from the embrace as she now noticed Roku there, but Lin laughed and held her struggling self tightly; only when she caught the sight of her great-grandfather staring at her did Azula stop struggling. Lin let her go and the girl looked down guiltily. Roku eyed her intensely for a moment before his gaze softened and he let that fond fatherly smile creep into existence. "Well, son", the old Master addressed the boy. "Take care of her."

Lin smiled and nodded. Azula turned to him, frowning, then to Roku, and then her brain processed everything and she leaped into her great-grandfather's arms, hugging him tight.

* * *

_(Air Nation, Southern Air Temple; Summer, One Year Ago)_

Gyatso stroked his chin as he pondered upon the question. He placed his Rose tile, completing his Star Arrow gambit. "Young man", he started. "The very fact that you doubt your worth for happiness…" he nodded sagely. "…is the most definite proof that you do."

Lin's eyes widened for a fraction of seconds. Reverently, he put down his tile, admitting defeat, and bowed in gratitude.

* * *

_(Fire Nation, Capital City – Dragon Pearl Manor; Summer, Day 22, Month 5, Monday, 02:03 AM)_

Biao stirred in her sleep. Lin pulled her cover back up over her shoulder and pressed the back of his fingers lightly on her forehead, checking her temperature. She was better now, Lin noticed, and he felt relieved. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed the girl gently on the forehead. Roku, on the way to Azula's room that was directly in front of Biao's, smiled at the sight.

The old Master entered the Princess' room and found her already tucked in and was about to sleep if her half-lidded eyes were of any indication. The tall old man swept into the room without any sound and knelt down beside the bed. He caressed the side of the girl's face and sighed deeply. "I still can't believe how much you have grown", he said sadly. "I love you, firefly."

"I love you, too, Grampy", Azula said. It was an old reflex… She ignored the jolt in her chest and was glad of her great-grandfather leaning down to kiss her forehead, obviously not realizing her conflict.

"Sleep well", Roku rose to his feet. "Goodnight, Azula."

"Goodnight, Grampy", Azula replied, closing her eyes.

She waited until the door clicked closed before she let that silent tear flooded through her dam.


End file.
